[Primary biliary liver cirrhosis]

Primary biliary cirrhosis, or chronic destructive nonsuppurative cholangitis, is a condition of chronic cholestasis, in which small intrahepatic bile ducts in the portal zones of the liver become progressively destroyed. The etiology of primary biliary cirrhosis is unknown, but the observation of (a) mitochondrial antibody, (b) elevated serum levels of IgM and (c) circulating immune complexes and (d) impaired lymphocyte transformation (- cooperation) strongly suggest, that disordered immune responses play a major role in the initiation or progression of this chronic hepatic lesion.