ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship of Toll-like receptors (TLR)-3 Mrna expression level on peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) with disease activity of PBC in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Methods The expression level of TLR-3 Mrna on peripheral blood monocytes was tested in 55 PBC cases (33 cases in active phase, 22 cases in stable stage), 20 cases with hepatoma (as disease controls) and 24 healthy controls. By real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (FQ-RT-PCR) methods. Β-actin was selected as the internal control. △Ct=Ct (target gene)-Ct(internal reference gene) were used to measure the gene expression level. Results The mean TLR-3 Mrna expression of PBC in active stage was higher than that of stable stage, hepatoma (P<0.001) as well as normals.The difference was significant (P=0.011<0.05). The mean TLR-3 Mrna was not different than that of the stable stage (P=0.221>0.05) and normal controls (P=0.347>0.05). There was no difference between patients with stable PBC and normal controls (P=0.590>0.05). Conclusion The TLR-3 Mrna expression level of PBMCs is elevated in active PBC patients. It may correlate with the pathogenesis and disease activity of PBC.