Search results for "Autoimmune hepatiti"

Strain differences in experimental autoimmune hepatitis

1990

T cell receptor Vβ chain restriction and preferred CDR3 motifs of liver-kidney microsomal antigen (LKM-1)-reactive T cells from autoimmune hepatitis …

2001

Aims/Background : The liver-kidney-microsomal antigen (LKM-1) has been recognized as a major CD4 + T cell antigen in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The aim of this study was to characterize the antigen recognition sites of the variable T cell receptor β-chain (TCRBV) of T cells specific to LKM-1. Methods: By repeated stimulation of T cells with a recombinant LKM-1 antigen or an LKM-derived peptide followed by limited dilution, we generated T cell clones. Usage of TCRBV was analyzed by RT-PCR and CDR3 antigen recognition sites were sequenced. Results: The 18 LKM-1 specific T cell clones isolated from six AIH patients preferentially expressed the TCR elements BV9, BV5S2+S3, BV6, and BV13S1. Four…

Antimitochondrial antibody -M2 positive autoimmune hepatitis during standard of care for chronic hepatitis C

2012

The current standard of care (SoC) for chronic hepatitis C, i.e. the combination of a pegylated-interferon (PEG-IFN) with ribavirin (RBV), may activate underlying autoimmune conditions. Particularly, interferon (IFN) has been known to induce or exacerbate autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in hepatitis C virus patients. We describe a severe, acute-onset antimitochondrial antibody (AMA)-M2 positive AIH appearing during the last weeks of SoC in a woman with chronic hepatitis C and no previous history of autoimmunity, and resolving on protracted steroids. In this context, the relevance of the characterization of the immunoglobulin isotype of portal plasma cells for …

Suppression of murine experimental autoimmune hepatitis by T-cell vaccination or immunosuppression

1998

Patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) usually require immunosuppressive therapy for many years, if not for a lifetime. Experimental immunotherapy such as T-cell vaccination aims at manipulating the immune system in such a way that autoimmunity is specifically regulated to enable long-lasting correction of the disease process. We aimed to test the feasibility of T-cell vaccination as well as conventional immunosuppression in the murine model of experimental autoimmune hepatitis (EAH). EAH was induced in 5- to 7-week-old BALB/c mice by immunization with syngeneic liver homogenate in complete Freund's adjuvant. For T-cell vaccination, splenocytes were removed from animals 14 days after indu…

The Hepatic Expression of Vitamin D Receptor Is Inversely Associated With the Severity of Liver Damage in Genotype 1 Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

2015

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D serum levels have been associated with the severity of liver fibrosis in genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients (G1CHC), and experimental evidence suggested a hepatoprotective role of vitamin D via interaction with hepatic vitamin D receptor (VDR). We assessed the hepatic expression of VDR protein and its association with liver disease severity. METHODS: Ninety-one consecutive patients with biopsy-proven G1CHC and available frozen liver tissue were evaluated. Ten subjects without chronic liver diseases and nine patients with autoimmune hepatitis served as controls. The hepatic expression of VDR protein was assessed by Western blot for quantification…

Anti-fibrotic therapy: lost in translation?

2012

While preclinical development of potential anti-fibrotics is far advanced, with numerous pharmacological targets and promising agents, almost none has entered clinical validation. Reasons are manifold, including the usually slow progression of liver fibrosis, requiring high numbers of well-stratified patients undergoing long-term treatment when conventional liver biopsy based parameters or hard liver-related endpoints are used. Importantly, there is a notorious lack of sensitive and specific surrogate markers or imaging technologies for liver fibrosis progression or regression that would permit a rapid clinical screening for potential anti-fibrotics. Nonetheless, in view of an urgent need f…

Does glatiramer acetate provoke hepatitis in multiple sclerosis?

2012

Abstract An association between multiple sclerosis and autoimmune hepatitis has been described. The latter can also be unmasked or exacerbated by a variety of therapies used in multiple sclerosis, such as beta-Interferon or glatiramer acetate. Two cases of hepatitis occurring after exposure to glatiramer acetate are described here: the first, was possibly due to autoimmune hepatitis, rather than glatiramer acetate induced liver injury, the second was definite autoimmune hepatitis. Both occurred in patients who had already experienced hepatitis exacerbations during previous beta-Interferon treatment. We suggest that glatiramer acetate can unmask hepatitis. Thus, liver enzyme monitoring shoul…

Role of sinusoidal endothelial cells of the liver in concanavalin A-induced hepatic injury in mice

1996

CD4+ T lymphocytes have been identified as being responsible for organ damage in the murine model of experimental liver injury induced by intravenous injection of concanavalin A (Con A). Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) and Kupffer's cells (KC) are among the first cells that come into contact with lymphocytes in the liver sinusoid. We aimed to investigate the respective role of these cell populations in the initial steps of T-cell-mediated liver injury in Con A-induced hepatitis. By electron microscopy, we could show that intravenously applied Con A bound predominantly to SEC but not to KC. KC depletion by gadolinium chloride treatment of mice did not result in protection from liver…

Autoimmune hepatitis following hepatitis A virus infection.

1995

A 7-year-old patient is reported who suffered from fatigue and jaundice due to chronic hepatitis. He had acquired hepatitis A virus infection in his community and communicated the disease to his German family 4 weeks later. While the other family members recovered from acute viral hepatitis A, the patient presented 10 weeks after the onset of hyperbilirubinemia (12 mg/dl) with the histology of chronic hepatitis, absence of markers for viral persistence, presence of autoantibodies against smooth muscle (1:320) and the asialoglycoprotein receptor (1:600), and marked hypergammaglobulinemia (3700 mg/dl), leading to the diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis. The patient received immunosuppressive th…

Prevalence of Autoantibodies to the p53 Protein in Autoimmune Hepatitis

2003

The target antigens of anti-nuclear autoantibodies in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) are poorly characterised. Since antibodies to the p53 nuclear protein have been reported in various autoimmune diseases, we have assessed the prevalence of these antibodies in patients with AIH (n = 45), primary biliary cirrhosis (n = 60), hepatitis B (n = 22), hepatitis C (n = 55), and in a control group of subjects with various non-liver diseases (n = 56). A significant proportion of patients with AIH (31%) had elevated levels of autoantibodies to the p53 protein. In contrast, the prevalence of these antibodies in primary biliary cirrhosis (8%) and viral hepatitis (6%) was similar to that in the control group…