title: Expression of perforin and Fas ligand mRNA in the liver of viral hepatitis.
abstract: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of viral hepatitis. We studied the expression of mRNAs of perforin and Fas ligand (Fas-L) in biopsy specimens from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (15 cases) and hepatitis C (CHC) patients (13 cases). Both perforin and Fas-L mRNAs were detected in all cases of both CHB and CHC. No messages were detected in the control livers from two cases of fatty liver, a case of Gilbert's syndrome, and a case of Dubin-Johnson syndrome. Semiquantitative analysis revealed a positive correlation between the intensity of perforin and Fas-L mRNAs in both CHB and CHC. In CHB, the intensity of both perforin and Fas-L mRNAs showed a positive correlation with the histological activity and serum alanine aminotransferase level, while the correlation was not apparent in CHC. These results suggest that both perforin and Fas/Fas-L systems are involved in the pathogenesis of liver cell injury of CHB and CHC.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tagashira
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujio
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ibuki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yabushita
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuji
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D054353:Perforin; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C505661:FASLG protein, human; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054353:Perforin