Ikeda T, Uchihara M, Daiguji Y, Hasumura Y, Takeuchi J
Second Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1988 Sep;48(3):371-9. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(88)90031-1.
To investigate the immunological mechanisms underlying corticosteroid therapy in chronic active hepatitis (CAH), in vitro effects of prednisolone on suppressor T-cell and interleukin 2 (IL-2) activities were examined in six corticosteroid therapy-effective and six therapy-ineffective patients with CAH prior to the therapy. Whereas low suppressor T-cell activity and decreased response to IL-2 in T cells were found in the corticosteroid therapy-effective group, these reductions recovered to the normal range when the activity or response was tested in the presence of prednisolone (1 and 10 micrograms/ml). Corresponding with these recoveries, suppressor T-cell activity arrived at normal values after corticosteroid therapy for 8 weeks. By contrast, in the corticosteroid-ineffective group, no apparent effects of prednisolone on suppressor T-cell activity and the response to IL-2 were observed. The relationship between the clinical effect of corticosteroid therapy and in vitro improvement in suppressor T-cell activity or in the response to IL-2 by prednisolone suggests that, in CAH, the corticosteroid effect is likely to be due to an immunomodulation in T-cell function.
为研究慢性活动性肝炎（CAH）中皮质类固醇治疗的免疫机制，在治疗前对6例皮质类固醇治疗有效的CAH患者和6例治疗无效的CAH患者检测了泼尼松龙对抑制性T细胞和白细胞介素2（IL-2）活性的体外效应。在皮质类固醇治疗有效的组中发现抑制性T细胞活性低且T细胞对IL-2的反应降低，而当在泼尼松龙（1和10微克/毫升）存在的情况下检测活性或反应时，这些降低恢复到正常范围。与这些恢复相对应，皮质类固醇治疗8周后抑制性T细胞活性达到正常值。相比之下，在皮质类固醇治疗无效的组中，未观察到泼尼松龙对抑制性T细胞活性和对IL-2反应的明显影响。皮质类固醇治疗的临床效果与泼尼松龙对抑制性T细胞活性或对IL-2反应的体外改善之间的关系表明，在CAH中，皮质类固醇的作用可能归因于T细胞功能的免疫调节。
