[Comparative study of superoxide production of monocytes in primary biliary cirrhosis]

Monocytes appear to play a role in immunological abnormalities observed in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Monocytes not only produce fibroproliferative factors, such as IL-1, TNF, and PDGF but also produce superoxide anion which can directly damage tissues, and thus may lead to fibrosis. The aim of this study was to compare the superoxide production in monocytes obtained from 12 control persons, 9 patients with non biliary cirrhosis, 6 untreated PBC patients, 6 patients with gallstones under urso- and chenodeoxycholicacid (Lithofalk) treatment and 32 PBC patients under ursodeoxycholicacid (UDCA) therapy. Monocytes were isolated and the production of superoxide anions with and without phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA) stimulation was determined. In two occasion, the monocytes from control patients were preincubated with 10, 50, 100 microM UDCA. Unstimulated monocytes from PBC patients under UDCA therapy produce an average 43% more and the PMA stimulated monocytes an average 42% more superoxide than monocytes from the control or from the other cirrhotic patients. The UDCA preincubation did not influence the superoxide production of monocytes obtained from control patients. These findings suggest that the increased activity of monocytes may also play a role in liver damage and fibrosis in PBC.