Abstract: Objective The purpose of this study was to observe whether hepatitis B virus(HBV) can infect human hepatic stellate cell(HSC) in vitro. Methods LX-2 cells, the human activated HSC cell line, were incubated with human serum containing HBV DNA at final concentrations from 0.01 to 10 copies/cell and harvested after 24, 48 and 72 hours. Total HBV DNA and cccDNA in LX-2 cells were detected by fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(FQ-PCR). HBV replicative intermediates were detected by Southern blotting and Northern blotting. Results Compared with 2.58 copies /cell of HBVDNA and 0.86 copies /cell of cccDNA in HepG2.2.15 cells, less than 0.05 copies/cell of HBVDNA and no cccDNA in LX-2 cells was detected by FQ-PCR. The results of Southern blotting and Northern blotting showed that HBV replicative intermediates were all negative in LX-2 cells, but were all positive in HepG2.2.15 cells. Conclusion This In vitro study showed that there was no evidence that HBV can infect LX-2 cells.

Key words: hepatitis B virus, hepatic stellate cell, infection, fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction