T cell repertoire in primary biliary cirrhosis: a common T cell clone and repertoire change after treatment.

T cell repertoire was analyzed in three early-stage primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and single-strand conformation polymorphism. Multiple expanded clones were demonstrated in livers and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of all three patients. Comparison of the repertoire of different parts of the liver demonstrated the presence of common clones in various Vbeta families. Comparison of the repertoire between the liver and PBL demonstrated that both CD4 and CD8 T cell clones were expanded. Sequence analysis of complementarity determining region 3 of the expanded clones revealed that relatively conserved amino acids were utilized in each patient and that an identical CD4 T cell clone having Vbeta16 was present in all three patients. The number of expanded T cell clones in PBL decreased markedly after the treatment with prednisolone. These results suggest that common T cell clones may play a pathogenic role in PBC.