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Abstract

To investigate pathogenic mechanisms of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), serum levels of 26 chemokines and cytokines were determined and compared with patients with chronic hepatitis C or in healthy controls. The chemokine eotaxin-3 (E3; CCL26), which recruits eosinophils to sites of inflammation, was found to be highly elevated in all PSC, PBC, and AIH patients compared with HCV patients and healthy controls. Eotaxin-1 (E1; CCL11), another eosinophil-specific chemokine, was elevated in PSC but reduced in PBC and AIH, while the macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC; CCL22) was lower in all PSC, PBC, and AIH patients compared with HCV patients and controls. By incorporating levels of the interleukin (IL)-15 into a diagnostic algorithm, PSC, PBC, and AIH patients could each be differentiated with good sensitivity and specificity. These findings represent the first study to compare the level of serum cytokine/chemokine levels among these related autoimmune-like liver diseases. Furthermore, our data indicate that the measurement of serum E3, E1, CCL22, and IL-15 levels can aid in the diagnosis of these clinically challenging diseases and shed light on the potential pathogenic mechanisms underlying these diseases. By suggesting a potential role for an allergic phenomenon involving eosinophils, which may define them as liver-specific allergic diseases, this may open up potential new therapeutic avenues by abrogating the action of these disease-associated immune modulators.