Soluble CD163, a macrophage activation marker, is independently associated with fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C

Konstantin Kazankov, Francisco Barrera, Holger Jon Møller, Bo Martin Bibby, Hendrik Vilstrup, Jacob George, Henning Grønbæk – 13 March 2014 – Macrophages are involved in inflammation and liver fibrosis and soluble (s)CD163 is a specific marker of activated macrophages. We investigated associations between sCD163 and biochemical and histological parameters of inflammatory activity and fibrosis in 551 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 203 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) before antiviral treatment.

Activation of invariant natural killer T cells impedes liver regeneration by way of both IFN‐γ‐ and IL‐4‐dependent mechanisms

Shi Yin, Hua Wang, Adeline Bertola, Dechun Feng, Ming‐jiang Xu, Yan Wang, Bin Gao – 13 March 2014 – Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are a major subset of lymphocytes found in the liver. These cells mediate various functions, including hepatic injury, fibrogenesis, and carcinogenesis. However, the function of iNKT cells in liver regeneration remains unclear. In the present study, partial hepatectomy (PHx) was used to study liver regeneration. α‐Galactosylceramide (α‐GalCer), a specific ligand for iNKT cells, was used to induce iNKT cell activation.

Subscribe to