What Is Primary Biliary Cirrhosis?
3. Causes
There is a lot that we don’t know about primary biliary cholangitis, and exactly why it happens is still somewhat of a mystery. Evidence indicates that it is an autoimmune condition. Recall, that one of the functions of our immune system is to protect our body by responding to invading microorganisms by producing antibodies or sensitized lymphocytes (types of white blood cells). In some cases, however, immune cells mistakenly attack the very cells that they are meant to protect.
In primary biliary cholangitis, there are abnormalities in the production of antibodies (i.e. antibodies against host tissue) and impaired regulation of lymphocytes (B and T lymphocytes). In fact, activated lymphocytes (CD4 and CD8) are partly responsible for the chronic destruction of small and medium bile ducts. Finally, primary biliary cholangitis can be associated with many other autoimmune diseases (i.e. autoimmune thyroiditis, scleroderma).
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