| Abstract: |
Obstructive jaundice is associated with immunologic derangements and hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Because dendritic cells (DCs) play a major role in immune regulation, we hypothesized that the immunosuppression associated with jaundice may result from the functional impairment of liver DCs. We found that bile duct ligation (BDL) in mice expanded the myeloid subtype of liver DCs from 20 to 80% of total DCs and increased their absolute number by > 15-fold. Liver myeloid DCs following BDL, but not sham laparotomy, had increased Ag uptake in vivo, high IL-6 secretion in response to LPS, and enhanced ability to activate T cells. The effects of BDL were specific to liver DCs, as spleen DCs were not affected. Expansion of liver myeloid DCs depended on Gr-1 + cells, and we implicated monocyte chemotactic protein-1 as a potential mediator. Thus, obstructive jaundice selectively expands liver myeloid DCs that are highly functional and unlikely to be involved with impaired host immune responses. Copyright © 2006 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc. |
| Keywords: |
controlled study; hepatitis; nonhuman; laparotomy; protein function; cell proliferation; t-lymphocytes; animal cell; mouse; animals; mice; mice, knockout; cells, cultured; cell function; dendritic cell; animal experiment; animal model; mice, inbred balb c; mice, inbred c57bl; immunoregulation; mice, transgenic; liver; lymphocyte activation; dendritic cells; immune response; antigen; interleukin 6; cell count; bile duct obstruction; cytokine release; t lymphocyte activation; monocyte chemotactic protein 1; receptors, chemokine; ligation; cholestasis; myeloid cells; jaundice, obstructive; lipopolysaccharides; bile duct ligation; liver fibrosis; obstructive jaundice
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