Immature immune system and immune tolerance induced by exposure to HBeAg in utero and/or shortly after infection in newborns were reportedly the causes of chronic HBV infection. To investigate the effect of maternal‐derived HBeAg on neonatal T cell immunity, we analysed and compared T cell phenotypes and functions among neonates born to HBsAg⁺/HBeAg⁺ mothers (HBeAg⁺ neonates), HBsAg⁺/HBeAg⁻ mothers (HBeAg⁻ neonates) and healthy control mothers (HC neonates), using flow cytometry. The results showed that neonatal T cell phenotypes were similar regardless of HBeAg exposure. Upon anti‐CD3 and anti‐CD28 stimulation in HBeAg⁺ neonates, CD4⁺ T cell production of IFN‐γ (P  < .05) was significantly enhanced, while CD8⁺ T cells secreted significantly more IL‐2 compared with those in HBeAg⁻ and HC groups (P  < .05). Moreover, similar levels of IFN‐γ and IL‐10 were observed in the culture supernatant after stimulation with rHBsAg, rHBcAg or rHBeAg among HBeAg⁺, HBeAg⁻ and HC neonates, whereas HBeAg⁺ neonates produced more TNF‐α than HBeAg⁻ neonates upon stimulation with rHBcAg. In conclusion, the results indicated that the HBsAg⁺/HBeAg⁺ maternal environment did not influence the phenotypes of cord blood T cells but boosted neonatal non‐specific Th1‐type cytokine production.

中文翻译：

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宫内暴露于母体源性HBeAg对脐血T细胞免疫的影响。

据报道，在子宫内和/或新生儿感染后不久，由于暴露于子宫内的HBeAg而引起的免疫系统不成熟和免疫耐受被认为是造成慢性HBV感染的原因。为了研究母体衍生的HBeAg对新生儿的T细胞免疫的效果，我们出生对HBsAg新生儿中分析和比较的T细胞表型和功能的⁺ / e抗原⁺母亲（HBeAg的⁺新生儿），乙肝表面抗原⁺ / e抗原^-母亲（HBeAg的^-新生儿）和健康对照母亲（HC新生儿），使用流式细胞仪。结果表明，无论HBeAg暴露如何，新生儿T细胞表型都是相似的。在HBeAg ⁺新生儿中抗CD3和抗CD28刺激后，CD4 ⁺T细胞产生IFN-γ的（P  <0.05）中的溶液显著增强，而CD8 ⁺ T细胞分泌的显著更多的IL-2与在HBeAg的比较^-和HC组（P  <0.05）。此外，IFN-γ和IL-10的相似的水平在培养上清液中观察到具有的rHBsAg，rHBcAg或rHBeAg HBeAg的中刺激后⁺，HBeAg的^-和HC新生儿，而HBeAg的⁺新生儿产生更多的TNF-α比HBeAg的^-在新生儿用rHBcAg刺激。总之，结果表明HBsAg ⁺ / HBeAg ⁺ 孕产妇环境不会影响脐带血T细胞的表型，但会促进新生儿非特异性Th1型细胞因子的产生。