Frequencies of dendritic cells and Toll-like receptor 3 in neonates born to HBsAg-positive mothers with different HBV serological profiles.

To investigate the frequencies of dendritic cells (DCs) and Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in neonates of HBsAg-positive mothers with different HBV serological profiles, we conducted a study in Taiyuan, China. The study included 144 HBsAg-positive mothers and their neonates. The frequencies of DCs and TLR3 were determined using four-colour flow-cytometric analysis. DC and TLR3 frequencies were not related to HBV intrauterine transmission, maternal HBeAg positivity, maternal HBV DNA positivity and HBeAg/HBV DNA double-positivity. The plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) frequencies in neonates whose maternal HBV DNA was >5 × 107 copies/ml decreased significantly compared to that in neonates whose maternal HBV DNA was ⩽5 × 107 copies/ml (Z = - 2·170, P = 0·03) or whose maternal HBV DNA was negative (Z = - 1·981 P = 0·048). This study suggests that neonatal pDC frequencies decrease when maternal HBV DNA loads are >5 × 107 copies/ml.