RESUMO
Immune-mediated, drug-induced hepatitis is a rare complication of halogenated volatile anesthetic administration. IL-4-regulated Th2-polarized reactions initiate this type and other types of hepatitis, while the mechanisms that regulate the severity remain elusive. IL-33 is an innate, IL-4-inducing, Th2-polarizing cytokine that has been detected in patients with liver failure and has been associated with upregulated ST2+Foxp3+CD4+CD25+ T cells; however, roles for IL-33 in drug-induced hepatitis are unclear. We investigated IL-33 in an anesthetic, immune-mediated hepatitis modeled in BALB/c, IL-33-/- and ST2-/- mice, as well as in patients with anesthetic hepatitis. The hepatic IL-33 and ST2 levels were elevated in BALB/c mice (p < 0.05) with hepatitis, and anti-IL-33 diminished hepatitis (p < 0.05) without reducing IL-33 levels. The complete absence of IL-33 reduced IL-10 (p < 0.05) and ST2+Foxp3+CD4+CD25+ T cells (p < 0.05), as well as reduced the overall survival (p < 0.05), suggesting suppressive roles for IL-33 in anesthetic, immune-mediated hepatitis. All of the mice demonstrated similar levels of CD4+ T-cell proliferation following direct T-cell receptor stimulation, but we detected splenic IL-33 and ST2-negative Foxp3+CD4+CD25+ T cells in ST2-/- mice that developed less hepatitis than BALB/c mice (p < 0.05), suggesting that ST2-negative Foxp3+CD4+CD25+ T cells reduced hepatitis. In patients, serum IL-33 and IPEX levels were correlated in controls (r2 = 0.5, p < 0.05), similar to the levels in mice, but not in anesthetic hepatitis patients (r2 = 0.01), who had elevated IL-33 (p < 0.001) and decreased IPEX (p < 0.01). Our results suggest that, in anesthetic, immune-mediated hepatitis, IL-33 does not regulate the CD4+ T-cell proliferation that initiates hepatitis, but IL-33, likely independent of ST2, reduces hepatitis via upregulation of Foxp3+CD4+CD25+ T cells. Further studies are needed to translate the role of IL-33 to human liver disease.
Assuntos
Linfócitos T CD4-Positivos/metabolismo , Doença Hepática Induzida por Substâncias e Drogas/sangue , Doença Hepática Induzida por Substâncias e Drogas/imunologia , Fatores de Transcrição Forkhead/sangue , Fatores de Transcrição Forkhead/metabolismo , Interleucina-33/sangue , Interleucina-33/metabolismo , Animais , Proliferação de Células/genética , Doença Hepática Induzida por Substâncias e Drogas/mortalidade , Citocromo P-450 CYP2E1/imunologia , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Epitopos/química , Epitopos/farmacologia , Feminino , Fluoracetatos/química , Fluoracetatos/farmacologia , Humanos , Proteína 1 Semelhante a Receptor de Interleucina-1/genética , Proteína 1 Semelhante a Receptor de Interleucina-1/metabolismo , Subunidade alfa de Receptor de Interleucina-2/metabolismo , Interleucina-33/genética , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos KnockoutRESUMO
Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has been regarded as female-predominant without evidence of gender difference in survival. We aimed to compare the overall survival, incidence and prevalence of PBC in two well defined population-based studies over a recent decade, considering also sex ratios and mortality. We have taken advantage of population-wide records, during 2000-2009, in Lombardia, Northern Italy, and Denmark. We focused on the incident cases of PBC, including gender and outcome, among 9.7 million inhabitants of Lombardia and 5.5 million of Denmark. In Lombardia there were 2,970 PBC cases with a female:male ratio of 2.3:1. The age/sex-adjusted annual incidence of PBC was 16.7 per million. Point prevalence was 160 per million on January 1(st) 2009. In Denmark there were 722 cases of incident PBC, female:male ratio was 4.2:1, and the annual incidence was 11.4 per million, a point prevalence of 115 per million in 2009. Cox regression multivariate analysis identified male sex as an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in both Italian (HR 2.36) and Danish population (HR 3.04). Our data indicate for PBC a sex ratio significantly lower than previously cited, a reversal of the usual latitudinal difference in prevalence and a surprisingly higher overall mortality for male patients.
Assuntos
Cirrose Hepática Biliar/epidemiologia , Dinamarca/epidemiologia , Feminino , Humanos , Incidência , Itália/epidemiologia , Masculino , Prevalência , Sistema de Registros , Análise de Regressão , Caracteres Sexuais , Análise de SobrevidaRESUMO
UNLABELLED: The serological hallmark of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is the presence of high titer and specific antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs). Although there is no global immune defect in patients with PBC, there is widespread dysregulated B-cell function, including increased sera levels of immunoglobulin M and enhanced B-cell responses to cytosine-phosphate-guanine stimulation. The mechanisms involved in this B-cell dysfunction have remained unknown. To address this issue, we focused on identifying the frequencies of B-cell subsets in patients with PBC and the mechanisms that lead to B-cell dysregulation, including the relationships with chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 5 (CXCR5)(+) CD4(+) T cells. Herein, we report that elevations of both serum and intrahepatic interleukin-21 (IL-21) were found in patients with PBC and, in particular, promoted B-cell proliferation, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 phosphorylation and AMA production in vitro. More important, upon stimulation with recombinant E2 subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, CXCR5(+) CD4(+) T cells in PBC produced higher levels of IL-21 than healthy controls. Additionally, sorted CXCR5(+) CD4(+) T cells increased production of AMAs by autologous CD19(+) B cells. Indeed, elevated expression of intrahepatic chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 13 (CXCL13), a key chemokine of CXCR5(+) cells, was uniquely found within the portal tracts in PBC, accompanied by infiltrates of CD4(+) , CXCR5(+) , CD19(+) , and CD38(+) cells. CONCLUSION: CXCL13 promotes aggregation of CD19(+) B cells and CXCR5(+) CD4(+) T cells, which directs the aberrant AMA response by IL-21. These data have implications for potential immunotherapy and also reflect the unique lymphoid biology in liver of PBC.
Assuntos
Linfócitos B/fisiologia , Quimiocina CXCL13/metabolismo , Cirrose Hepática Biliar/imunologia , Fígado/imunologia , Antígenos CD19/metabolismo , Antígenos CD4/metabolismo , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Humanos , Interleucinas/metabolismo , Fígado/metabolismo , Cirrose Hepática Biliar/metabolismo , Receptores CXCR5/metabolismoRESUMO
UNLABELLED: The serologic hallmark of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), the antimitochondrial response to the E2 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2), has unique features, including continuous high titers of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG reactivity throughout all stages of disease, capable not only of target enzyme inhibition, but also crossreactive with chemical xenobiotics that share molecular homology with the inner lipoyl domain of PDC-E2; such chemicals have been proposed as potential etiological agents. We used flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) to examine B-cell subsets in 59 subjects, including 28 with PBC, 13 with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and 18 healthy controls. Strikingly, in PBC, although there were no significant differences in B-cell phenotype subpopulations, 10% of the total IgG and IgA plasmablast population and 23% of the IgM plasmablast population were uniquely reactive with PDC-E2, detected in the CXCR7+ CCR10low plasmablast population. In contrast, plasmablast reactivity to a control antigen, tetanus toxoid, was minimal and similar in all groups. Additionally, we isolated plasmablast-derived polyclonal antibodies and compared reactivity with plasma-derived antibodies and noted a distinct noncirculating tissue source of xenobiotic crossreacting antibodies. The high levels of autoantigen specific peripheral plasmablasts indicate recent activation of naive or memory B cells and a continuous and robust activation. The presence of CXCR7+ CCR10low PDC-E2-specific ASCs suggests a mechanistic basis for the migration of circulating antigen specific plasmablasts to the mucosal epithelial ligands CXCL12 and CCL28. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest a sustained rigorous B-cell response in PBC, likely activated and perpetuated by cognate autoantigen.
Assuntos
Autoantígenos/imunologia , Linfócitos B/imunologia , Di-Hidrolipoil-Lisina-Resíduo Acetiltransferase/imunologia , Cirrose Hepática Biliar/imunologia , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Especificidade de Anticorpos , Células Produtoras de Anticorpos/metabolismo , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Receptores CCR10/metabolismo , Receptores CXCR/metabolismo , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The human neuroendocrine enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) catalyses the synthesis of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) using pyridoxal 5'-phosphate as a cofactor. GAD exists as two isoforms named according to their respective molecular weights: GAD65 and GAD67. Although cytosolic GAD67 is typically saturated with the cofactor (holoGAD67) and constitutively active to produce basal levels of GABA, the membrane-associated GAD65 exists mainly as the inactive apo form. GAD65, but not GAD67, is a prevalent autoantigen, with autoantibodies to GAD65 being detected at high frequency in patients with autoimmune (type 1) diabetes and certain other autoimmune disorders. The significance of GAD65 autoinactivation into the apo form for regulation of neurotransmitter levels and autoantibody reactivity is not understood. We have used computational and experimental approaches to decipher the nature of the holo â apo conversion in GAD65 and thus, its mechanism of autoinactivation. Molecular dynamics simulations of GAD65 reveal coupling between the C-terminal domain, catalytic loop, and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-binding domain that drives structural rearrangement, dimer opening, and autoinactivation, consistent with limited proteolysis fragmentation patterns. Together with small-angle X-ray scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy data, our findings are consistent with apoGAD65 existing as an ensemble of conformations. Antibody-binding kinetics suggest a mechanism of mutually induced conformational changes, implicating the flexibility of apoGAD65 in its autoantigenicity. Although conformational diversity may provide a mechanism for cofactor-controlled regulation of neurotransmitter biosynthesis, it may also come at a cost of insufficient development of immune self-tolerance that favors the production of GAD65 autoantibodies.
Assuntos
Autoimunidade , Glutamato Descarboxilase , Homeostase/imunologia , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Neurotransmissores , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico , Autoanticorpos/imunologia , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1/imunologia , Glutamato Descarboxilase/química , Glutamato Descarboxilase/genética , Glutamato Descarboxilase/imunologia , Humanos , Neurotransmissores/química , Neurotransmissores/genética , Neurotransmissores/imunologia , Multimerização Proteica , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/química , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/genética , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/imunologiaRESUMO
During the 1940s and 1950s, the Australian microbiologist F. Macfarlane Burnet sought a biologically plausible explanation of antibody production. In this essay, we seek to recover the conceptual pathways that Burnet followed in his immunological theorizing. In so doing, we emphasize the influence of speculations on individuality, especially those of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead; the impact of cybernetics and information theory; and the contributions of clinical research into autoimmune disease that took place in Melbourne. We point to the influence of local experimental and intellectual currents on Burnet's work. Accordingly, this essay describes an arc distinct from most other tracings of Burnet's conceptual development, which focus on his early bacteriophage research, his fascination with the work of Julian Huxley and other biologists in the 1920s, and his interest in North Atlantic experimental investigations in the life sciences. No doubt these too were potent influences, but they seem insufficient to explain, for example, Burnet's sudden enthusiasm in the 1940s for immunological definitions of self and not-self. We want to demonstrate here how Burnet's deep involvement in philosophical biology - along with attention to local clinical research - provided him with additional theoretic tools and conceptual equipment, with which to explain immune function.
Assuntos
Alergia e Imunologia/história , Formação de Anticorpos , Pesquisa Biomédica/história , História do Século XX , VitóriaRESUMO
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) was first studied under its earlier name of "chronic active hepatitis" (CAH) from the 1950s, coincident with a renaissance of interest in autoimmunity. The definition of autoimmune serum reactants in disease, including CAH, gave new insights into chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis, and led to refinements of Burnet's clonal selection theory of acquired immunity, 1957-59. Various discoveries including serological reactants in CAH prompted its designation in 1965 as autoimmune hepatitis, and treatment with immunosuppressive drug regimens transformed outcomes and survival. Serological observations further indicated that AIH could exist as either of two types, clinically similar but genetically different: Type 1 aligned more with the non-organ-specific multisystem diseases, and the infrequent Type 2 more with the organ-specific diseases. However, events in either type that could explain the onset of autoimmunity in the normally tolerogenic milieu of the liver have not been discerned. In the genetically predisposed individual, initiation may depend on non-specific death of hepatocytes after which fragments derived from disordered apoptosis acquire the capacity for ongoing auto-immunogenic stimulation. Insufficiency in numbers and function of Treg populations appears important in the promotion of this autoimmune process.
Assuntos
Predisposição Genética para Doença , Hepatite Autoimune , Autoimunidade/imunologia , Hepatite Autoimune/tratamento farmacológico , Hepatite Autoimune/genética , Hepatite Autoimune/imunologia , Humanos , Tolerância Imunológica , Imunossupressores/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
In November 2009, Human Genome Sciences and Glaxo-Smith Kline [HGS (Rockville, Maryland) and GSK, respectively] announced that Belimumab, a neutralizing antibody to the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-like ligand, B-cell activating factor (BAFF belonging to the TNF family, also named BLyS), met the primary endpoints in two phase III clinical trials in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, lupus). In March 2011, Belimumab was approved by the US Federal Drug Agency for treatment of SLE patients; this was followed in May with approval by the European Medicines Agency for use in the European Union. This is an exciting development as it is the first successful late-stage clinical trial in SLE in over 40 years. In the light of this breakthrough, we review the key data and research outcomes and examine how blocking BAFF in patients with SLE significantly improves clinical outcomes.
Assuntos
Anticorpos Monoclonais/uso terapêutico , Fator Ativador de Células B/antagonistas & inibidores , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/tratamento farmacológico , Animais , Anticorpos Monoclonais Humanizados , Fator Ativador de Células B/química , Química Farmacêutica/métodos , Ensaios Clínicos Fase III como Assunto , Aprovação de Drogas , Desenho de Fármacos , União Europeia , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/imunologia , Camundongos , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/uso terapêutico , Estados Unidos , United States Food and Drug AdministrationRESUMO
Dysregulated inflammation in the gut, designated clinically as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is manifested by the prototypic phenotypes of an Arthus-like reaction restricted to the mucosa of the colon, as in ulcerative colitis, or a transmural granulomatous reaction, as in Crohn's disease, or an indeterminate form of the two polar types. That the inflammation of IBD can trespass the boundaries of the bowel has long been known, with articular, ophthalmologic, cutaneous, hepatobiliary or other complications/associations - some autoimmune and others not - affecting significant numbers of patients with IBD. Also notable is the frequency of diagnosis of IBD-type diseases on a background of systemic, (mostly myelo-hematological) disorders, associated with alterations of either (or both) innate or adaptive arms of the immune response. Finally, cases of IBD are reported to occur as an adverse effect of TNF inhibitors. Bone marrow transplant has been proven to be the only curative measure for some of the above cases. Thus, in effect, the IBDs should now be regarded as a systemic, rather than bowel-localized, disease. Genome-wide association studies have been informative in consolidating the view of three phenotypes of IBD (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and mixed) and, notably, are revealing that the onset of IBD can be linked to polymorphisms in regulatory miRNAs, or to nucleotide sequences coding for regulatory lymphokines and/or their receptors. At the effector level, we emphasize the major role of the Th17/IL-23 axis in dictating the perpetuation of intestinal inflammation, augmented by a failure of physiological control by regulatory T-cells. In conclusion, there is a central genesis of the defects underlying IBD, which therefore, in our opinion, is best accommodated by the concept of IBD as more of a syndrome than an autonomous disease. This altered mindset should upgrade our knowledge of IBD, influence its medical care and provide a platform for further advances.
Assuntos
Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais/complicações , Animais , Transplante de Medula Óssea , Genótipo , Humanos , Imunidade nas Mucosas , Mediadores da Inflamação/metabolismo , Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais/genética , Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais/imunologia , Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais/terapia , Interleucina-23/metabolismo , MicroRNAs/metabolismo , Fenótipo , Prognóstico , Transdução de Sinais , Células Th17/imunologiaRESUMO
Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) is a rare autoimmune neurological disease attributable to autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD) more usually associated with the islet beta cell destruction of autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D). SPS is characterized by interference in neurons with the synthesis/activity of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) resulting in the prototypic progressive spasmodic muscular rigidity of SPS, or diverse neurological syndromes, cerebellar ataxia, intractable epilepsy, myoclonus and several others. Remarkably, a single autoantibody, anti-GAD, can be common to widely different disease expressions, i.e. T1D and SPS. One explanation for these data is the differences in epitope engagement between the anti-GAD reactivity in SPS and T1D: in both diseases, anti-GAD antibody reactivity is predominantly to a conformational epitope region in the PLP- and C-terminal domains of the 65 kDa isoform but, additionally in SPS, there is reactivity to conformational epitope(s) on GAD67, and short linear epitopes in the C-terminal region and at the N-terminus of GAD65. Another explanation for disease expressions in SPS includes ready access of anti-GAD to antigen sites due to immune responsiveness within the CNS itself according to intrathecal anti-GAD-specific B cells and autoantibody. Closer study of the mysterious stiff-person syndrome should enhance the understanding of this disease itself, and autoimmunity in general.
Assuntos
Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1/metabolismo , Neurônios GABAérgicos/metabolismo , Glutamato Descarboxilase/metabolismo , Epitopos Imunodominantes/metabolismo , Doenças Neurodegenerativas/metabolismo , Rigidez Muscular Espasmódica/metabolismo , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/metabolismo , Autoanticorpos/imunologia , Autoanticorpos/metabolismo , Sistema Nervoso Central/patologia , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1/imunologia , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1/patologia , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1/fisiopatologia , Epilepsia , Neurônios GABAérgicos/imunologia , Neurônios GABAérgicos/patologia , Glutamato Descarboxilase/imunologia , Herpes Zoster da Orelha Externa , Humanos , Epitopos Imunodominantes/imunologia , Rigidez Muscular , Dissinergia Cerebelar Mioclônica , Doenças Neurodegenerativas/imunologia , Doenças Neurodegenerativas/patologia , Doenças Neurodegenerativas/fisiopatologia , Isoformas de Proteínas/imunologia , Espasmo , Rigidez Muscular Espasmódica/imunologia , Rigidez Muscular Espasmódica/patologia , Rigidez Muscular Espasmódica/fisiopatologia , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/genética , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/imunologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) as chronic active hepatitis became recognized in the 1940s as a progressive hyperglobulinemic disease affecting younger women attributed to persisting virus infection of the liver: autoimmunity then was barely on the horizon. EARLY OBSERVATIONS: The lupus erythematosus (LE) cell reported in 1948 signified the presence of antinuclear autoantibodies, promoting perceptions of autoimmunity in certain chronic diseases. Recognition of LE cells in chronic hepatitis led to the designation of 'lupoid hepatitis', with autoimmunity further substantiated by anti-cytoplasmic autoantibodies detected by complement fixation. Next a serum reactant with smooth muscle of rodent stomach was found to have a wider distribution and became identified as an autoantibody to filamentous (F) actin. Therapy with corticosteroids proved effective, particularly combined with azathioprine. Various trials showed greatly improved survival and established modern therapy of AIH. An HLA-based predisposition (B8, DR3) was the first pointer to a genetic etiology. RECENT ADVANCES: Recombinant or purified autoantigenic substrates have led to automated assays, which, together with improved immunofluorescence procedures, allow serological confidence in diagnosis and institution of effective immunosuppressive therapies. The liver-kidney 'microsomal' autoantigen reactive with cytochrome P450 2D6 distinguishes two serological types of AIH that appear pathogenetically distinct. Molecular characterization of antigens and epitopes remains wanting in type 1 AIH. FUTURE PROSPECTS: The challenge remains with both types of AIH to elucidate in molecular terms the genetic and environmental basis of pathogenesis from initiation to ultimate progression and cirrhosis (when inadequately treated). Advancing technologies are bringing this goal closer to being attainable.