Detection of Immunoglobulins in Paraffin-Embedded Liver Biopsies

Abstract

Husby, G., Blomhoff, J. P., Skrede, S., Elgjo, K. & Gjone, Egil. Detection of immunoglobulins in paraffin-embedded liver biopsies. Studies in 100 patients with special regard to immunological findings in active chronic hepatitis. Scand. J. Gastroent. 1973, 8, 621-629.

Paraffin-embedded liver biopsies were examined by direct immunofluores-cence for immunoglobulins and amyloid in 100 patients with established or suspected liver disease. In all 12 patients with active chronic hepatitis, serum IgG was increased, and smooth muscle antibodies were present. Four of the patients with active chronic hepatitis had Australia antigen in serum. Im-munoglobulins were present in the liver, mainly within mononuclear cells resembling plasma cells. More than 80 % of the immunoglobulins were IgG, about 15 % were IgA and less than 5 % IgM. In primary biliary cirrhosis, most patients had increased serum IgM, and 80 % had mitochondrial antibodies. In the liver, the immunological activity was low, but IgM-containing cells were more frequent than in other types of liver disease. Also in other types of cirrhosis, the immunofluorescence was much less pronounced than in active chronic hepatitis. In acute hepatitis there was a remarkably high amount of IgA in the liver tissue. A shift from IgA to IgG was seen when acute hepatitis progressed into chronic disease. In 15 cases with normal histology, no immunoglobulin was detected in the liver tissue. In 7 patients with clinical and histological evidence of amyloidosis of the liver, varying amounts of fluorescent amyloid material were present.

Key-words::

• Acute liver disease
• chronic liver disease
• circulating auto-antibodies
• immunohistochemistry
• liver biopsies
• serum immunoglobulins