Authors: Erzsébet Fehér Éva Pongor Károly Altdorfer László Kóbori Gabriella Lengyel
Publish Date: 2013/07/24
Volume: 354, Issue: 2, Pages: 543-550
Abstract
Bidirectional interaction between immune and nervous systems is considered an important biological process in health and disease However little is known about the mechanisms involved in their interaction in the human liver This study examines the distribution of intrahepatic NPY SP immunoreactive IR nerve fibers and their antomical relationship with immunocells containing tumor necrosis factorα TNFα and nuclear factor κB NFκB in patients with autoimmune hepatitis Liver specimens were obtained from control liver and autoimmune hepatitis patients The immunoreactivity was determined by immunohisto and immunocytochemistry and confocal laser microscopy In hepatitis the number of NPYIR and SPIR nerve fibers increased significantly These IR nerve fibers were in very close contact with the lymphocytes In healthy controls no NPYIR SPIR or NFκB IR lymphocytes and only a few TNFα positive cells were observed In hepatitis some of the lymphocytes showed immunoreactivity for SP and NPY in the portal area Fluorescent doublelabeled immunostaining revealed that in these cells NPY did not colocalize with TNFα or NFκB However some of the SP fluorescencepositive immune cells exhibited immunostaining for p65 of NFκB where their labeling was detected in the nuclei Under the electronmicroscope these cells could be identified lymphocytes plasmacells and mast cells The gap between the IR nerve fibers and immunocells was 1 μm or even less Overexpression of SP in lymphocytes may amplify local inflammation while NPY may contribute to liver homeostasis in hepatitis Neural immunomodulation SP antagonists and NPY might be a novel therapeutic concept in the management of liver inflammation
Keywords: