Abstract
Approximately 5% of patients with clinical and histological features suggestive of primary biliary cirrhosis do not have anti-mitochondrial antibodies that can be detected by current methodologies. Although the role of these autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of liver disease is uncertain, T lymphocytes within the portal tracts are felt to be important mediators of bile duct destruction. In order to investigate the hypothesis that a similar T-cell process may be involved in both antimitochondrial antibody-positive and -negative primary biliary cirrhosis, we characterized the oligoclonally expanded T cells in both types of patients by analysis of complementarity determining region 3 length in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The distribution of oligoclonally expanded T cells was similar in both groups. This finding does not support a distinct T-cell-mediated pathogenesis for anti-mitochondrial antibody-positive and -negative primary biliary cirrhosis but rather suggests that similar processes may be involved in the immunopathogenesis of both.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 345-351 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Digestive Diseases and Sciences |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2001 |
Keywords
- Autoimmunity
- Cholangiopathy
- Cholangitis
- Liver
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Gastroenterology