Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on the expression of retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) in mice. Methods C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group, HBV infected group（vail vein hydrodynamic injectionr AAV8-1.3HBV viral vector1×1011 vg/per）and HBV infected + lamivudine group（150 mg/kg）. Then 6 mice were sacrificed at the 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 18 weeks after injection, respectively. The level of HBV DNA in serum were detected by RT-qPCR. Then, the RBP4 and biochemical indicators in mice serum were detected by ELISA and automatic biochemical analyzer; the levels of inflammatory factors（TNF-α、IL-6）in liver tissues were detected by ELISA, and the expression levels of RBP4 protein and RBP4 mRNA in liver tissue were detected by Western blotting and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Results The HBV-infected mice was successfully constructed, as the serum HbsAg remained in high level and the positive rate was stable with more than 80 % at 1-18 weeks after the tail vein hydrodynamic injection, and the HBV DNA in serum of mice was also significantly higher than that in the control group. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the liver tissue from the infected mice increased with time, which was significantly higher than that in the normal group at 12 weeks and 18 weeks after injection (P<0.05). In addition, the expression levels of liver RBP4 protein and RBP4 mRNA from the infected group decreased over infection time, which were lower than that in the normal group and the lamivudine group at the 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 18 weeks after injection (P<0.05). Conclusions Infection of HBV can significantly reduce the expression level of liver retinol binding protein 4 in mice.

Key words: Hepatitis B virus, Retinol binding protein 4, C57BL/6 mice