Expressions of anti-mitochondrial M2 antibodies, regulatory T cells, and relevant interleukin in peripheral blood of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and its clinical significance

Objective To study the expressions and correlation of serum anti-mitochondrial M2 antibodies (auti-mitochondria antibody type Ⅱ,AMA-M2),regulatory T cells,and relevant interleukin (IL) in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC),and to explore the diagnostic value.Methods The serum samples of the PBC diagnosed patients group (n=42),disease control group (n=36),and healthy controls (n=50) were collected respectively.Western Blot Method was used to detect AMA-M2 and the CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and the levels of CD4+,CD8+,CD4+/CD8+ were examined by the Flow Cytometry.The ELISA quantitative method was used to determinate IL-4,IL-6,IL-2,IL-8,and IL-10.Results There were statistical differences in the positive rate of AMA-M2 hetween the PBC group,the healthy controls,and the disease control group (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the AMA-M2 negative group,the levels of CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ were increased by 11.57％ and 72.79％ respectively,the CD4+CD25+ and CD8+ levels were decreased by 61.50％ and 35.97％ respectively,IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-8,and IL-10 were increased by 189.65％,24.29％,2184.54％,230.33％,and 1281.37％ respectively in the positive group,with statistical differences (P ＜ 0.05).But in comparison with the weak positive group,there were statistical differences in only CD4+/CD8+,IL-4,IL-6,IL-8,and IL-10 between the weak positive and positive groups (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The immune dysfunction of the patients with PBC correlates with high expression levels of IL-2,IL-6,IL-8,IL-10.Positive serum AMA-M2 detection,the proportion of regulatory T cell in peripheral blood,and the detection of cytokine concentration can provide references for clinicaly diagnosing PBC. Key words: Primary biliary cirrhosis;  AMA-M2;  Regulatory T Lymphocytes;  Cytokines