What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary

Biliary atresia (BA) is the most frequent identifiable cause of neonatal cholestasis, and the majority of patients will need liver transplantation for survival. Despite surgical intervention with the Kasai portoenterostomy, significant fibrosis and cirrhosis develop early in life. An increased under...

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Main Author: Cara L. Mack
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-05-01
Series:Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352345X15000612
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author Cara L. Mack
author_facet Cara L. Mack
author_sort Cara L. Mack
collection DOAJ
description Biliary atresia (BA) is the most frequent identifiable cause of neonatal cholestasis, and the majority of patients will need liver transplantation for survival. Despite surgical intervention with the Kasai portoenterostomy, significant fibrosis and cirrhosis develop early in life. An increased understanding of what causes this inflammatory fibrosing cholangiopathy will lead to therapies aimed at protecting the intrahepatic biliary system from immune-mediated damage. This review focuses on studies pertaining to the role of the adaptive immune response in bile duct injury in BA, including cellular and humoral immunity. The neonatal presentation of BA prompts the question of what potential modifications of unique aspects of the neonatal immune system set the stage for the progressive biliary disease. This review also discusses the characteristics of neonatal immune response and the theories on how alterations of this response could contribute to the pathogenesis of BA. These include aberrant type 1 helper T-cell (TH1) and TH17 responses, deficiencies in regulatory T cells, activation of humoral immunity, and autoimmunity. To advance our understanding of the etiology of BA, future studies should focus on the unique aspects of the neonatal immune system that have gone awry. Keywords: Cholestasis, Adaptive Immunity, Neonatal Autoimmunity
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spelling doaj.art-de3c57017b1b4d91808350398bbe3c4b2022-12-22T03:55:33ZengElsevierCellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology2352-345X2015-05-0113267274What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummaryCara L. Mack0Correspondence Address correspondence to: Cara L. Mack, MD, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Childrenâs Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 13123 East 16th Avenue, Mailstop B290, Aurora, Colorado 80045. fax: (720) 777-7277.; Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Childrenâs Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, ColoradoBiliary atresia (BA) is the most frequent identifiable cause of neonatal cholestasis, and the majority of patients will need liver transplantation for survival. Despite surgical intervention with the Kasai portoenterostomy, significant fibrosis and cirrhosis develop early in life. An increased understanding of what causes this inflammatory fibrosing cholangiopathy will lead to therapies aimed at protecting the intrahepatic biliary system from immune-mediated damage. This review focuses on studies pertaining to the role of the adaptive immune response in bile duct injury in BA, including cellular and humoral immunity. The neonatal presentation of BA prompts the question of what potential modifications of unique aspects of the neonatal immune system set the stage for the progressive biliary disease. This review also discusses the characteristics of neonatal immune response and the theories on how alterations of this response could contribute to the pathogenesis of BA. These include aberrant type 1 helper T-cell (TH1) and TH17 responses, deficiencies in regulatory T cells, activation of humoral immunity, and autoimmunity. To advance our understanding of the etiology of BA, future studies should focus on the unique aspects of the neonatal immune system that have gone awry. Keywords: Cholestasis, Adaptive Immunity, Neonatal Autoimmunityhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352345X15000612
spellingShingle Cara L. Mack
What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary
Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology
title What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary
title_full What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary
title_fullStr What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary
title_full_unstemmed What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary
title_short What Causes Biliary Atresia? Unique Aspects of the Neonatal Immune System Provide Clues to Disease PathogenesisSummary
title_sort what causes biliary atresia unique aspects of the neonatal immune system provide clues to disease pathogenesissummary
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352345X15000612
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