BACKGROUND/AIMS: The etiology and pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) remain elusive. Both an infectious etiology and molecular mimicry have been implicated. The aim is to study the prevalence of Chlamydial antigens and RNA in the liver tissue of patients with PBC. METHODS: We compared the prevalence of Chlamydial antigen and RNA in 25 explants with PBC who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation with 105 explanted livers from other chronic liver disease. We also studied 14 liver biopsies from patients with early stages of PBC. Donor livers were also studied. RESULTS: In all 39 patients with PBC, Chlamydia pneumoniae antigens were present but not Chlamydia trachomatis, and only 9/105 (8.5%) of patients in the other categories were positive (P<0.01) for C. pneumoniae. Eight explanted PBC livers were tested for C. pneumoniae 16S RNA by in situ hybridization and were positive. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of C. pneumoniae antigen and RNA in liver tissue of patients with PBC suggests that C. pneumoniae antigen may trigger an immune response based on molecular mimicry.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: The etiology and pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) remain elusive. Both an infectious etiology and molecular mimicry have been implicated. The aim is to study the prevalence of Chlamydial antigens and RNA in the liver tissue of patients with PBC. METHODS: We compared the prevalence of Chlamydial antigen and RNA in 25 explants with PBC who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation with 105 explanted livers from other chronic liver disease. We also studied 14 liver biopsies from patients with early stages of PBC. Donor livers were also studied. RESULTS: In all 39 patients with PBC, Chlamydia pneumoniae antigens were present but not Chlamydia trachomatis, and only 9/105 (8.5%) of patients in the other categories were positive (P<0.01) for C. pneumoniae. Eight explanted PBC livers were tested for C. pneumoniae 16S RNA by in situ hybridization and were positive. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of C. pneumoniae antigen and RNA in liver tissue of patients with PBC suggests that C. pneumoniae antigen may trigger an immune response based on molecular mimicry.
Authors: Mohamed-Ridha Barbouche; Qubo Chen; Marco Carbone; Imen Ben-Mustapha; Zakera Shums; Mehdi Trifa; Federica Malinverno; Francesca Bernuzzi; Haiyan Zhang; Nourhen Agrebi; Gary L Norman; Christopher Chang; M Eric Gershwin; Pietro Invernizzi Journal: Cell Mol Immunol Date: 2018-02-05 Impact factor: 11.530
Authors: J J Wang; G-X Yang; W C Zhang; L Lu; K Tsuneyama; M Kronenberg; J L Véla; M Lopez-Hoyos; X-S He; W M Ridgway; P S C Leung; M E Gershwin Journal: Clin Exp Immunol Date: 2014-02 Impact factor: 4.330
Authors: Craig Lammert; Douglas L Nguyen; Brian D Juran; Erik Schlicht; Joseph J Larson; Elizabeth J Atkinson; Konstantinos N Lazaridis Journal: Dig Liver Dis Date: 2013-03-11 Impact factor: 4.088
Authors: Brian D Juran; Elizabeth J Atkinson; Joseph J Larson; Erik M Schlicht; Konstantinos N Lazaridis Journal: Am J Gastroenterol Date: 2009-04-21 Impact factor: 10.864