Expression of perforin and Fas ligand mRNA in the liver of viral hepatitis.
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.
Tagashira
M
M
First Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
Yamamoto
K
K
Fujio
K
K
Nagano
T
T
Okamoto
R
R
Ibuki
N
N
Yabushita
K
K
Matsumura
S
S
Okano
N
N
Tsuji
T
T
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
C505661:FASLG protein, human; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054353:Perforin