Expression of human glucocorticoid receptor beta of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with severe autoimmune hepatitis.

We evaluated the expression of human glucocorticoid receptor beta (hGRbeta) in patients with severe autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The subjects were 27 patients with AIH, including 6 with severe type (prothrombin time [PT] < 40%) and 21 with non-severe type (PT>40%). Total RNA extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was reversed using reverse transcriptase. The resultant complementary DNA was amplified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using specific primers for hGR alpha and beta. The six patients with severe AIH were female; three presented fulminant hepatic failure with hepatic encephalopathy. In all patients with AIH, hGR a was detected. The incidence of hGR beta expression in patients with non-severe type was 42.9% (9/21) ; it was 100% (6/6) in those with severe type. The positive ratio was significantly higher in severe-type patients. These results suggest that hGR beta expression in PBMCs is a novel predictor of AIH severity.