Lipoteichoic acid may affect the pathogenesis of bile duct damage in primary biliary cirrhosis.
Autoimmunity
; 39(2): 129-35, 2006 Mar.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16698669
ABSTRACT
AIM:
Intrahepatic bile ducts are the targets for inflammation in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), but their pathogenesis is not known. Gram-positive bacterial DNA was detected recently in gallbladder bile of PBC patients. In the present study, we assessed the possible pathological role of lipoteichoic acid (LTA), the gram-positive bacterial cell wall component, in PBC.METHODS:
Liver samples, obtained from 20 patients with PBC (stage 1-2 with CNSDC stage 3-4 with loss of bile ducts = 1010) and from 13 patients with chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus (CH-C) with lymphocytic cholangitis, were subjected to immunohistochemical staining with polyclonal rabbit anti-LTA as the primary antibody. Serum reactivities to LTA were studied by ELISA. After 1 microg of purified LTA was placed in a 96-well microplate as an antigen, an antibody capture assay was carried out using serum samples from PBC (n = 20), CH-C (n = 13) and healthy subjects (n = 11).RESULTS:
LTA was localized around the sites of chronic non-suppurative destructive cholangitis (CNSDC) in the portal area in stage 1-2 PBC but was not detected in the portal area in CH-C. In stage 3-4 PBC, LTA was localized around sites of ductular proliferation at the periphery of portal tracts. IgM class anti-LTA serum titers were significantly higher in PBC than in CH-C. IgA class anti-LTA serum titers were significantly higher in PBC than in healthy subjects.CONCLUSIONS:
In the PBC livers, the profile of immunoreactivity to LTA changed markedly as the disease progressed. Sera from PBC showed higher levels of anti-LTA titers than CH-C (IgM) or from healthy subjects (IgA). The LTA-mediated immune system might affect the initiation and/or progression of PBC.
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Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Teichoic Acids
/
Lipopolysaccharides
/
Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Year:
2006
Type:
Article