Immunologic Reaction and Genetic Factors in Biliary Atresia
-
MASAHIRO NAKADA1,
KOONOSUKE NAKADA1,
FUMIO KAWAGUCHI1,
MUNECHIKA WAKISAKA1,
TOKO KASHIMURA1
NOBORU YAMATE1,
SHIRO MAEYAMA2 and
TOSHlYUKI UCHIKOSHI2
-
1Division of Pediatric Surgery, The Third Department of
Surgery, and 2The Second Department of Pathology, St. Marianna
University School of Medicine, Kawasaki 216
The characteristic histopathological features seen in the livers of
patients with biliary atresia (BA) are very similar to those of primary
biliary cirrhosis, which is an autoimmune disease. To clarify whether BA
liver possesses an immunological response similar to that in primary
biliary cirrhosis, we studied HLA-DR expression in liver tissue of BA
patients, using a HLA-DR staining method, and determined the frequency of
HLA types in BA patients and their families. HLA-DR was expressed by the
bile duct epithelium in 11 of 16 liver specimens obtained from 13 BA
patients. By contrast, HLA-DR was not expressed in liver specimens from 6
patients with congenital biliary dilatation. Among the HLA types seen in
BA patients and their families, HLA-A33, -B44 and -DR6 were frequently
expressed in blood. These results suggest that certain immunological
factors and disease-susceptible genes might be involved in the etiology of
BA.
Key word(s)---
biliary atresia; immunologic reaction; HLA-DR; genetic factor; etiology
Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 1997, 181, 41-47
Address for reprints:
Masahiro Nakada, M.D., Division of Pediatric Surgery, The Third Department
of Surgery, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, 2-16-1 Sugao,
Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki 216, Japan.
Back to CONTENTS.