期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1975
卷号：72
期号：4
页码：1301-1303
DOI：10.1073/pnas.72.4.1301
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Lymphocyte function in vitro was evaluated in patients with chronic active hepatitis and compared to normal controls. Circulating lymphocytes of patients were spontaneously cytotoxic to 51Cr-labeled human Chang liver cells and to suspensions of autologous liver cells obtained at the time of liver biopsy when tested at a lymphocyte target cell ratio of 200:1. Prednisone treatment of patients with chronic active hepatitis inhibited both spontaneous and concanavalin A-stimulated lymphocyte cytotoxicity to human Chang liver cells. Similarly, chronic prednisone administration substantially reduced lymphocyte cytotoxicity towards the patients' own liver cells in vitro, which correlated with a clinical, biochemical, and histological response to such therapy. Thus, patients with chronic hepatitis have circulating lymphocytes that are capable of causing destruction of their own liver cells in vitro. The beneficial effect of prednisone therapy in such patients may be related to this inhibition of lymphocyte cytotoxicity.
