Correspondingly, the decrease of SOCS1 protein expression in PBC livers, after normalization to a marker of lymphocytes and forkhead family transcriptional regulator box P3 (FOXP3, marker of Treg), was observed, and this phenomenon was accompanied by enhanced miRNA155 expression.
CD4(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a non-redundant role in control of excessive immune responses, and defects in Tregs have been shown both in patients and murine models of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), a progressive autoimmune biliary disease.
The expression of Foxp3 messenger RNA, a transcription factor specific for naturally arising CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs, was significantly increased in AIPC and extra-pancreatobiliary lesions in comparison to PSC and PBC (36.4-fold).
The infiltration of Foxp3+Tregs into portal tracts with CNSDC in PBC was foremost in comparison with inflamed portal tracts in CVH or those without CNSDC in PBC (p<0.05).
We investigated 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the Foxp3 gene in CD patients and assessed allele and genotype frequencies in 93 patients with Crohn's disease (61 female and 32 male), 82 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) (all female), and 108 normal controls (51 female and 57 male).