objectives: The role of interleukin-32 (IL-32) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remains unclear. In order to identify the role of IL-32 in CHB, we detected the expression levels of IL-32 in liver samples of CHB patients and analyzed the correlation between IL-32 and liver inflammation/fibrosis. Methods: Real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression levels of IL-32 in liver tissues of patients with CHB. The correlation between hepatic IL-32 expression and the severity of liver inflammation/fibrosis was assessed using Spearman's correlation. Results: Hepatic IL-32 expression was increased in CHB patients and increased with the severity of liver inflammation/fibrosis. Moreover, hepatic IL-32 expression was significantly positively correlated with serum ALT level and negatively related with serum ALB level. Conclusions: Our results suggest that IL-32 could be implicated in HBV-related liver inflammation/fibrosis. We believe that IL-32 might play important roles in the pathogenesis of CHB. (C) 2012 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.