Serum level of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and the expression of TGF-beta receptor type II in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association of the immunosuppressive effects of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) with abnormalities in immune regulation in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), we investigated the serum level of TGF-beta1 and expression of TGF-beta receptor type II (TbetaRII) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in patients with AIH.


METHODS
Twenty-two patients with AIH were included in this study. Serum levels of total TGF-beta1 were determined using a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression levels of TbetaRII mRNA were semi-quantitatively determined by ribonuclease (RNase) protection assay specific for TbetaRII.


RESULTS
The mean serum level of TGF-beta1 in patients with AIH (230+/-95 ng/mL) was higher than that of healthy controls (137+/-81 ng/mL, p=0.012). The expression level of TbetaRII mRNA in PBMC obtained from AIH patients (0.131+/-0.046) was lower than that in PBMC of patients with chronic hepatitis C (0.186+/-0.074, p=0.019) and that of healthy subjects (0.188+/-0.060, p=0.013).


CONCLUSIONS
The present study of TbetaRII mRNA expression in PBMC from patients with AIH suggested that the decreased expression of TbetaRII might contribute partially to abnormalities in immune regulation observed in patients with AIH, despite concomitant up-regulation of TGF-beta1 production.
Sakaguchi
Kohsaku
K
First Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan. sakaguti@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
Kitano
Motoko
M
Nishimura
Mamoru
M
Senoh
Tomonori
T
Ohta
Takeyuki
T
Terao
Masako
M
Shinji
Noriyuki
N
Koide
Norio
N
Tsuji
Takao
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1
D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta; C508960:TGFB1 protein, human; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1