Objective To study the changes in levels of cytokines IL-12 and INF-gamma in patients with chronic hepatitis C after culture in vitro of dendritic cell (DC). Methods Thirty-two patients with chronic hepatitis C were recruited as the observation group, and 30 healthy subjects undergoing physical examination as the control group, 50 ml of anticlotting blood was taken separately. After culture of DC in vitro, 5 ml of supernatant fluid were returned for examination. Using ELISA kit, the cytokines IL-12, INF-gamma level changes before and after culture in the two groups were examined. Results In the observation group, before the experiment, serum cytokine IL-12 was (38.46?4.97) ng/L and IFN - gamma was (15.27?2.67) pg/ml; in the control group, the cytokines were (61.10?4.38) ng/L and (27.24?27.24) pg/ml, respectively; the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.01). In the observation group, after culture of DC, IL-12 in the supernatant fluid was (337.91?13.35) ng/L, IFN-gamma was (6076.72?403.43) pg/ml; in the control group, the cytokines were (661.44?52.99) ng/L and (10 449.00?626.54) pg/ml, respectively; the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.01). Conclusions After in vitro culture of DC, secretion of IL-12, and the INF-gamma is obviously higher than that before culture, suggesting that raising the level of cytokines induced by DC immune cells can be used as a new auxiliary therapy in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.