Primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC) is a chronic,progressive,cholestatic,organ-specific autoimmune disease of unknown etiology.It predominantly affects middle-aged women,and is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruct...Primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC) is a chronic,progressive,cholestatic,organ-specific autoimmune disease of unknown etiology.It predominantly affects middle-aged women,and is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruction of small-and medium-size intrahepatic bile ducts,portal inflammation and progressive scarring,which without proper treatment can ultimately lead to fibrosis and hepatic failure.Serum autoantibodies are crucial tools for differential diagnosis of PBC.While it is currently accepted that antimitochondrial antibodies are the most important serological markers of PBC,during the last five decades more than sixty autoantibodies have been explored in these patients,some of which had previously been thought to be specific for other autoimmune diseases.展开更多
Autoimmune cholangitis would be the appropriate name to define the immune-mediated bile duct injury following the breakdown of tolerance to mitochondrial proteins and the appearance of serum autoantibodies and autorea...Autoimmune cholangitis would be the appropriate name to define the immune-mediated bile duct injury following the breakdown of tolerance to mitochondrial proteins and the appearance of serum autoantibodies and autoreactive T cells.Nevertheless,the conditionis universally named primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC).The disease etiology and pathogenesis remain largely unknown despite the proposed lines of evidence.One twin study and numerous epidemiology reportssuggest that both a susceptible genetic background and environmental factors determine disease onsetwhile a recent genome-wide association study proposed highly significant associations with several commongenetic polymorphisms in subgroups of patients.Specific infectious agents and chemicals may contribute to the disease onset and perpetuation in a geneticallysusceptible host,possibly through molecular mimicry.Importantly,several murine models have been proposed and include strains in which PBC is genetically determined or induced by immunization with chemicals and bacteria.From a pathogenetic standpoint,new exciting data have demonstrated the unique apoptotic features of bile duct cells that allow the mitochondrial autoantigens to be taken up in their intact form within apoptotic blebs.We are convinced that the application of the most recent molecular techniques will soon pro-vide developments in PBC etiology and pathogenesis with likely implications in diagnostics and therapeutics.展开更多
文摘Primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC) is a chronic,progressive,cholestatic,organ-specific autoimmune disease of unknown etiology.It predominantly affects middle-aged women,and is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruction of small-and medium-size intrahepatic bile ducts,portal inflammation and progressive scarring,which without proper treatment can ultimately lead to fibrosis and hepatic failure.Serum autoantibodies are crucial tools for differential diagnosis of PBC.While it is currently accepted that antimitochondrial antibodies are the most important serological markers of PBC,during the last five decades more than sixty autoantibodies have been explored in these patients,some of which had previously been thought to be specific for other autoimmune diseases.
文摘Autoimmune cholangitis would be the appropriate name to define the immune-mediated bile duct injury following the breakdown of tolerance to mitochondrial proteins and the appearance of serum autoantibodies and autoreactive T cells.Nevertheless,the conditionis universally named primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC).The disease etiology and pathogenesis remain largely unknown despite the proposed lines of evidence.One twin study and numerous epidemiology reportssuggest that both a susceptible genetic background and environmental factors determine disease onsetwhile a recent genome-wide association study proposed highly significant associations with several commongenetic polymorphisms in subgroups of patients.Specific infectious agents and chemicals may contribute to the disease onset and perpetuation in a geneticallysusceptible host,possibly through molecular mimicry.Importantly,several murine models have been proposed and include strains in which PBC is genetically determined or induced by immunization with chemicals and bacteria.From a pathogenetic standpoint,new exciting data have demonstrated the unique apoptotic features of bile duct cells that allow the mitochondrial autoantigens to be taken up in their intact form within apoptotic blebs.We are convinced that the application of the most recent molecular techniques will soon pro-vide developments in PBC etiology and pathogenesis with likely implications in diagnostics and therapeutics.
