Objective To investigate difference of NKG2D receptor expression level on the surface of natural killer (NK) cells in the patients with hepatitis B and its clinical significance. Methods This was a four-arm study with different types of subjects, including patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB, n= 22), HBV carriers (HBVC, n= 10), patients with acute hepatitis B (AHB, n;18) and healthy donors (HD, n=18). NKG2D protein and mRNA levels on the surface NK cells in the peripheral blood were examined by reverse transeription-polymerase chai...