Return to sender: Lymphocyte trafficking mechanisms as contributors to primary sclerosing cholangitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is an inflammatory disease of the biliary tree, characterized by stricturing bile duct disease and progression to liver fibrosis. The pathophysiology of PSC is still unknown. The concurrence with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in about 70% of the cases has led to the hypothesis that gut homing lymphocytes aberrantly traffic to the liver, contributing to the disease pathogenesis in patient with both PSC and IBD (PSC-IBD). The discovery of mutual trafficking pathways of lymphocytes to target tissues, and expression of gut-specific adhesion molecules and chemokines in the liver has pointed in this direction.

Source: Journal of Hepatology - May 16, 2019 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Manon de Krijger, Manon E. Wildenberg, Wouter J. de Jonge, Cyriel Y. Ponsioen Tags: Review Source Type: research