Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between hepatic pathology and the expression of IL-12
and IL-18 in patients infected with HBV. Methods Total of 175 patients infected with HBV in the Second
Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were enrolled. The clinical data, liver inflammation grades
and fibrosis stages were assessed. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of IL-12
and IL-18 in liver tissues. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the correlations between IL-12 and
IL-18 expression and the above indicators. Results IL-12 and IL-18 were mainly expressed in the cytoplasm
of liver cells. The expression of IL-12 and IL-18 in patients with chronic hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis after
hepatitis B and hepatitis B related liver cancer had statistically significant difference (χ 2 = 38.390, P < 0.001;
χ 2 = 21.051, P = 0.002). The expression of IL-12 and IL-18 in liver tissues of patients infected with HBV
were positively correlated with the degree of inflammation and fibrosis (r = 0.179, 0.165, 0.241, 0.132; P =
0.032, 0.026, 0.042, 0.0195). Conclusion The expression of IL-12 and IL-18 may be related to the immune
pathogenesis of HBV infection.
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