Immunocytochemical and Serologic Observations in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

CONVENTIONAL microscopical studies in primary biliary cirrhosis carried out in this laboratory have suggested a specific injury of the intrahepatic bile ducts,1 in agreement with previous reports.2 , 3 The early lesion is characterized by immunocytes — namely, lymphocytes and plasma cells — in the walls of and around bile ducts and by proliferation of apparently immunocytic mesenchymal cells in the lining of the sinusoids. These features suggest an immunologic reaction in this disease, whose etiology is unknown. In the later stages the specific histologic changes become noncharacteristic. A role of an immune reaction in the pathogenesis of this disorder has been . . .