Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression levels of Th17/Treg cytokines in HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) patients and its clinical significance. Methods Ninety-five patients admitted in Lanzhou Second People's Hospital from December 2010 to December 2013 were enrolled, including 33 HBV-ACLF patients (HBV-ACLF group), 42 chronic hepatitis B patients (CHB group) and 20 healthy people (HC group). Enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect the levels of IL-17 and IL-35 among groups, respectively. Meanwhile, measurement of liver function parameters was carried out. Results Levels of IL-17 and IL-35 in both HBV-ACLF group (137.47±60.81 and 242.39±81.80 pg/mL) and CHB group (121.63±57.25 and 212.05±123.98 pg/mL) were higher than those in HC group (16.37±8.47 and 33.6±24.63 pg/mL) (t=6.496, 6.136, 5.857 and 5.441, P<0.01), respectively. There were no significant differences in IL-17 and IL-35 levels between HBV-ACLF group and CHB group (t=0.987 and 1.034, P>0.05). Conclusion High expression levels of IL-17 and IL-35 might be associated with occurrence of HBV-ACLF.

Key words: Acute-on-chronic liver failure, Chronic hepatitis B, Th17/Treg cytokines