Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Pathology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Pathology
. 1983 Nov;36(11):1302–1308. doi: 10.1136/jcp.36.11.1302

Liver membrane antibodies in alcoholic liver disease. II. Antibodies to ethanol-altered hepatocytes.

R S Anthony, M Farquharson, R N MacSween
PMCID: PMC498550  PMID: 6355197

Abstract

Using an indirect immunofluorescence technique, circulating liver membrane antibodies against normal rabbit hepatocytes and ethanol-altered rabbit hepatocytes have been sought in a series of patients with histologically confirmed alcoholic liver disease. Liver membrane antibodies against normal hepatocytes were found in 18 (28%) of the 65 sera examined, but with ethanol-altered hepatocytes as substrate liver membrane antibodies were found in 48 (74%) of the sera. Isolation of F(ab')2 fragments confirmed that the positive results were due to antibody binding. Liver membrane antibodies against ethanol-altered hepatocytes are peculiar to alcoholic liver disease, and there is a similar incidence in the various histological types of alcoholic liver disease. Absorption studies suggest that the liver membrane antibodies are directed against new or altered antigens which are not present in normal hepatocytes. These new or altered antigens may also appear after pretreatment with other primary alcohols and seem likely to be induced by a haptenic effect of the alcohol or a metabolic break-down product. These studies represent a novel approach to the further investigation of the possible role of immunological mechanisms in alcohol-induced liver injury.

Full text

PDF
1302

Images in this article

1305Image
on p.1305

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Behrens U. J., Paronetto F. Studies on "liver-specific" antigens. I. Evaluation of the liver specificity of "LSP" and "LP-2". Gastroenterology. 1979 Nov;77(5):1045–1052. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Behrens U. J., Vernace S., Paronetto F. Studies on "liver-specific" antigens. II. Detection of serum antibodies to liver and kidney cell membrane antigens in patients with chronic liver disease. Gastroenterology. 1979 Nov;77(5):1053–1061. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burt A. D., Anthony R. S., Hislop W. S., Bouchier I. A., MacSween R. N. Liver membrane antibodies in alcoholic liver disease: 1. prevalence and immunoglobulin class. Gut. 1982 Mar;23(3):221–225. doi: 10.1136/gut.23.3.221. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cederbaum A. I., Rubin E. Mechanism of the protective action of cysteine and penicillamine against acetaldehyde-induced mitochondrial injury. Biochem Pharmacol. 1976 Oct 1;25(19):2179–2185. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(76)90130-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Doyle D., Le A. V. Regulation of the metabolism of plasma membrane proteins in hepatocytes. Hepatology. 1981 Mar-Apr;1(2):184–186. doi: 10.1002/hep.1840010216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Freund G. Possible relationships of alcohol in membranes to cancer. Cancer Res. 1979 Jul;39(7 Pt 2):2899–2901. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldstein D. B., Chin J. H. Interaction of ethanol with biological membranes. Fed Proc. 1981 May 15;40(7):2073–2076. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hopf U., Meyer zum Büschenfelde K. H., Arnold W. Detection of a liver-membrane autoantibody in HBsAg-negative chronic active hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 1976 Mar 11;294(11):578–582. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197603112941103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jeejeebhoy K. N., Ho J., Greenberg G. R., Phillips M. J., Bruce-Robertson A., Sodtke U. Albumin, fibrinogen and transferrin synthesis in isolated rat hepatocyte suspensions. A model for the study of plasma protein synthesis. Biochem J. 1975 Jan;146(1):141–155. doi: 10.1042/bj1460141. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MacSween R. N., Anthony R. S., Farquharson M. Antibodies to alcohol-altered hepatocytes in patients with alcoholic liver disease. Lancet. 1981 Oct 10;2(8250):803–804. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90205-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Morré D. J., Kartenbeck J., Franke W. W. Membrane flow and intercoversions among endomembranes. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1979 Apr 23;559(1):71–52. doi: 10.1016/0304-4157(79)90008-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. NISONOFF A., WISSLER F. C., LIPMAN L. N., WOERNLEY D. L. Separation of univalent fragments from the bivalent rabbit antibody molecule by reduction of disulfide bonds. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1960 Aug;89:230–244. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(60)90049-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Nasu H., Chia D. S., Knutson D. W., Barnett E. V. Naturally occurring human antibodies to the F(ab')2 portion of IgG. Clin Exp Immunol. 1980 Nov;42(2):378–386. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Steele E. J., Rowley D. The mechanism of complement fixation by rabbit F(ab')2: properties of the bactericidal reaction. Immunochemistry. 1977 May;14(5):319–324. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(77)90230-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Teschke R., Hasumura Y., Lieber C. S. Hepatic microsomal alcohol-oxidizing system. Affinity for methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol. J Biol Chem. 1975 Sep 25;250(18):7397–7404. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Teschke R., Hasumura Y., Lieber C. S. NADPH-dependent oxidation of methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol by hepatic microsomes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1974 Sep 23;60(2):851–857. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(74)90319-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Vergani D., Mieli-Vergani G., Alberti A., Neuberger J., Eddleston A. L., Davis M., Williams R. Antibodies to the surface of halothane-altered rabbit hepatocytes in patients with severe halothane-associated hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 1980 Jul 10;303(2):66–71. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198007103030202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Zauli D., Lenzi M., Cometti G., Biolchini L., Bianchi F. B., Pisi E. Antibodies to alcohol-altered hepatocytes. Lancet. 1981 Nov 7;2(8254):1052–1052. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)91253-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Zetterman R. K., Sorrell M. F. Immunologic aspects of alcoholic liver disease. Gastroenterology. 1981 Sep;81(3):616–624. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Pathology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES