Table 2.

Levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, perforin and granzyme B in different co-cultured supernatants after addition of IFN-α alone or together with NKG2D mAb (Mean ± SD).

Group	n	TNF-α (pg/mL)	IFN-γ (pg/mL)	perforin (pg/mL)	granzyme B (pg/mL)	HBV DNA (copies/mL)	HBsAg (IU/mL)
HepG2 cells
Control	6	6.83 ± 0.58	0.12 ± 0.02	—	—	—	—
+IFN-α	6	14.95 ± 2.85a	0.15 ± 0.05	—	—	—	—
HBV- HepG2 cells
Control		8.63 ± 1.45	0.14 ± 0.03	—	—	6.9 × 106	72.62 ± 10.35
+IFN-α		18.85 ± 2.88a	0.18 ± 0.06	—	—	9.2 × 105	69.45 ± 6.96
NK cells
Control	6	12.45 ± 1.25	0.34 ± 0.07	45.89 ± 8.65	35.25 ± 3.19	—	—
+IFN-α	6	86.58 ± 8.69a	1.28 ± 0.12a	82.69 ± 13.69a	52.43 ± 5.46a	—	—
+NKG2D mAb	6	10.36 ± 1.33	0.32 ± 0.02	36.79 ± 11.65	32.28 ± 2.93	—	—
+IFN-α + NKG2D mAb	6	62.65 ± 6.58a,b,c	0.87 ± 0.08a,b,c	58.95 ± 9.69b,c	40.88 ± 5.23a,b,c	—	—
Group A: NK + HepG2
Control	6	45.65 ± 3.58	67.25 ± 6.45	56.89 ± 8.25	42.56 ± 4.93	—	—
+IFN-α	6	98.95 ± 9.46a	154.32 ± 15.30a	96.25 ± 12.33a	72.55 ± 9.42a	—	—
+NKG2D mAb	6	39.86 ± 3.25	58.49 ± 5.68	32.89 ± 7.98a	36.25 ± 4.14	—	—
+IFN-α + NKG2D mAb	6	69.50 ± 5.92a,b,c	122.06 ± 13.25a,b,c	75.58 ± 7.68a,b,c	58.44 ± 5.88a,b,c	—	—
Group B: NK + HBV-HepG2
Control	6	65.28 ± 4.68	82.39 ± 9.88	65.85 ± 10.89	58.26 ± 6.13	5.5 × 105	52.43 ± 5.96
+IFN-α	6	125.45 ± 1.85a	215.24 ± 18.13a	118.25 ± 15.85a	82.50 ± 9.14a	3.2 × 103	36.45 ± 6.28
+NKG2D mAb	6	48.85 ± 4.58a	57.86 ± 7.25a	42.55 ± 8.62a	41.25 ± 4.45a	7.8 × 106	72.18 ± 8.69
+IFN-α + NKG2D mAb	6	88.45 ± 8.59a,b,c	138.26 ± 11.62a,b,c	75.86 ± 11.25a,b,c	66.58 ± 7.24a,b,c	4.6 × 105	42.62 ± 8.95

NKG2D, NKG2 family receptor D; IFN, interferon; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; HBV hepatitis B virus; HBsAg: surface antigen of hepatitis B; ^a P < 0.05, compared with the control group of the same co-cultured system. ^b P < 0.05, compared with NK + IFN-α group of the same co-cultured system. ^c P < 0.05, compared with NK + NKG2D mAb group of the same co-cultured system.