MIF and Autoinmmune Liver Disease - 1891 Words

MIF and Autoimmune Liver Disease MIF is constitutively expressed in low amounts by hepatocytes and has been shown to be weakly expressed within sinusoidal lining cells as well as biliary epithelial cells of the liver [1, 2]. Previous studies have described an increase in MIF levels being associated with inflammatory hepatic disorders such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma [3], however, to date little is known about MIF and its implications in the pathogenesis of autoimmune liver disease. A recent study by Assis and colleagues evaluated changes in the levels of both circulating MIF and its soluble receptor (CD74) in sera to determine if clinical manifestations correlated with the inflammatory profile observed in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) [4]. Immuno-histological analysis levels of MIF and CD74 protein expression, although varied between mild and severe cases, were more abundantly expressed in liver sections in both AIH and PBC patients compared to control specimens. Serolo gical data collected from patients in this study also confirmed that both AIH and PBC cohorts had significantly higher levels of circulating MIF compared to healthy controls. Further analysis revealed however that PBC patients had higher concentrations of the MIF soluble neutralising receptor CD74 in contrast to both AIH and control cohorts. This finding in respect to disease progression between PCB and AIH cohorts is suggested to correlate with the