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Objective: To investigate the roles of the polarized populations of T helper cells isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of individuals with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Methods: PBMCs from patients with chronic HBV infection were separated routinely, stimulated by PMA, ionomycin and monensin, and the production of IL-4, IFN-γ and TGF-β by CD4+ T cells was observed by flow cytometry(FACS). Results: The percentages of the T cells producing IFN-γ, IL-4 or TGF-β ranged from 2.3% to 18.6%, 1.1% to 8.7% and 0.7% to 7.1% respectively among CD4+ cells from non-infected individuals. The majority of CD4+ T cells in PBMCs from individuals with chronic HBV infection were Th0 cells. The proportion of Th1 cells in patients with active chronic hepatitis B was higher than that in patients at inactive stage of the disease (P＜0.05), indicating a significant elevation of Thl cells with the hepatic inflammation activity. The percentage of Th2 cells in individuals with HBV infection was higher than that in controls (P＜0.05),but showed no difference between different patients (P＞0.05). The percentage of Th3 cells was higher in asymptomatic HBV carriers than that in patients with chronic hepatitis B and in healthy controls (P＜0.05). Conclusions: Th1-type cytokines are related with hepatic inflammation activity of chronic hepatitis B, and Th2 cells may be associated with the persistence of HBV infection. Th3 cells cooperating with Th2 cells are likely to function as negative immunoregulator, and may be responsible for the immune tolerance state of chronic HBV infection.