Lack of concomitant expression of ICAM-1 and HLA-DR on bile duct cells from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis.

In both primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) prominent infiltrates of lymphocytes surround the bile ducts, on which an abberrant expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens has been found, suggesting that the immune system is involved in the biliary destruction. Since the lymphocytes presumably must adhere to the bile ducts to initiate a cell-to-cell-mediated destruction, we have studied the expression of the lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) together with its ligand, the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and the expression of HLA-DR, using immunoperoxidase staining of cryostat sections from patients with PBC (n = 10), PSC (n = 13), and normal healthy controls (n = 6). Most lymphocytes expressed LFA-1. ICAM-1 expression was found on hepatocytes from 9 of 10 PBC and 10 of 13 PSC patients but was not seen on hepatocytes from the controls. Hepatocytes expressing HLA-DR were only found in one patient with PBC. None of the septal bile ducts expressed ICAM-1, and only one PSC patient and three PBC patients expressed ICAM-1 on their interlobular bile ducts. The bile ducts in 22 of 23 patients, however, expressed HLA-DR. Proliferating bile ductules from two PBC patients and three PSC patients showed a concomitant expression of ICAM-1 and HLA-DR. None of the bile ducts from the controls expressed ICAM-1 or HLA-DR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)