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Background: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is the gold standard for diagnosis of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). The semi-quantitative MRCP-derived Anali scores proposed for risk stratification, have poor-to-moderate inter-reader agreement. Aims: To evaluate the prognostic performance of quantitative MRCP metrics in PSC. Methods: This is a retrospective study of PSC patients undergoing MRCP. Images were processed using MRCP+ software (Perspectum Ltd, Oxford) that provides quantitative biliary features, semi-automatically extracted by artificial intelligence-driven analysis of MRCP-3D images. The prognostic value of biliary features has been assessed for all hepato-biliary complications. Results: 87 PSC patients have been included in the analysis. Median follow-up from MRCP to event/censoring of 30.9 months (Q1-Q3=13.6–46.6). An adverse outcome occurred in 27 (31.0%) patients. The number of biliary strictures (HR=1.05 per unit, 95%CI 1.02–1.08, p < 0.0001), spleen length (HR=1.16 per cm, 95%CI 1.01–1.34, p = 0.039), adjusted for height, age at MRCP, and time from diagnosis to MRCP predicted higher risk of hepatobiliary complications. These were incorporated into a the quantitative MRCP-derived PSC (qMRCP-PSC) score (C-statistic=0.80). After 3-fold cross-validation, qMRCP-PSC outperformed the Anali score in our cohort (C-statistic of 0.78 vs 0.64) and enabled the discrimination of survival of PSC patients (log-rank p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The qMRCP-PSC score identified patients at higher risk of hepatobiliary complications and outperformed the available radiological scores. It represents a novel quantitative biomarker for disease monitoring and a potential surrogate endpoint for clinical trials.

AA amyloidosis may complicate several chronic inflammatory conditions. From a clinical point of view, causality between inflammatory pathology and AA amyloidosis can be assumed because of the data described in the literature; some of the best known include rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and chronic infections. Singles cases of inflammatory diseases have been found at AA amyloidosis. Causality becomes more plausible if at least two different cases with AA amyloidosis are both found to have the same rare inflammatory disease. We describe the case of a patient with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) with development of AA amyloidosis conditioning a nephrotic syndrome, likely secondary to failure to control the chronic inflammatory process. Only two cases in the literature describe the association of this rare disease and the appearance of AA amyloidosis. The treatment of AA amyloidosis consists in treating the underlying inflammatory disorder; to date, few effective treatments are available for PSC. Therefore, and in view of the limited data in the literature, we believe it is important to describe its association.

Introduction: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare chronic cholestatic disease with heterogeneous phenotypes that may lead to liver transplantation and/or end-stage liver disease. Its multifactorial etiopathogenesis remains uncertain, but gut–liver axis and bile composition and excretion are widely demonstrated to influence the immune-mediated fibrogenic reactive cascade. Areas covered: Different experimental therapeutic options are under investigation, mainly aiming at modulating bile acids excretion, limiting inflammatory-cascade reactions, and changing intestinal microbiota composition; none of them yet demonstrated to prolong transplant-free survival. This review provides a comprehensive description of the experimental drugs recently tested and/or currently under investigation. A bibliographical search was performed in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, OVID, and clinicaltrial.gov until July 2021. Expert opinion: The heterogeneity and poor prevalence of PSC, its uncertain pathophysiology, and the lack of surrogate endpoints are the major challenges in drug discovery. Strategies that synergistically target microbiota, bile acids, and liver fibrosis are needed. In parallel, we must enhance biomarkers discovery to develop surrogate endpoints, as biochemical markers’ fluctuations over the time hamper their effectiveness. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography tools that accurately measure bile duct changes represent a potential marker for disease monitoring. A collaboration between academia, research consortia, patient’s associations, and industry is required.

ObjectivePrimary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is in 70% of cases associated with inflammatory bowel disease. The hypermorphic T108M variant of the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR35 increases risk for PSC and ulcerative colitis (UC), conditions strongly predisposing for inflammation-associated liver and colon cancer. Lack of GPR35 reduces tumour numbers in mouse models of spontaneous and colitis associated cancer. The tumour microenvironment substantially determines tumour growth, and tumour-associated macrophages are crucial for neovascularisation. We aim to understand the role of the GPR35 pathway in the tumour microenvironment of spontaneous and colitis-associated colon cancers.DesignMice lacking GPR35 on their macrophages underwent models of spontaneous colon cancer or colitis-associated cancer. The role of tumour-associated macrophages was then assessed in biochemical and functional assays.ResultsHere, we show that GPR35 on macrophages is a potent amplifier of tumour growth by stimulating neoangiogenesis and tumour tissue remodelling. Deletion of Gpr35 in macrophages profoundly reduces tumour growth in inflammation-associated and spontaneous tumour models caused by mutant tumour suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli. Neoangiogenesis and matrix metalloproteinase activity is promoted by GPR35 via Na/K-ATPase-dependent ion pumping and Src activation, and is selectively inhibited by a GPR35-specific pepducin. Supernatants from human inducible-pluripotent-stem-cell derived macrophages carrying the UC and PSC risk variant stimulate tube formation by enhancing the release of angiogenic factors.ConclusionsActivation of the GPR35 pathway promotes tumour growth via two separate routes, by directly augmenting proliferation in epithelial cells that express the receptor, and by coordinating macrophages’ ability to create a tumour-permissive environment.

Liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) can be complicated by recurrence of PSC (rPSC). This may compromise graft survival but the effect on patient survival is less clear. We investigated the effect of post-transplant rPSC on graft and patient survival in a large European cohort. Registry data from the European Liver Transplant Registry regarding all first transplants for PSC between 1980 and 2015 were supplemented with detailed data on rPSC from 48 out of 138 contributing transplant centres, involving 1,549 patients. Bayesian proportional hazards models were used to investigate the impact of rPSC and other covariates on patient and graft survival. Recurrence of PSC was diagnosed in 259 patients (16.7%) after a median follow-up of 5.0 years (quantile 2.5%-97.5%: 0.4-18.5), with a significant negative impact on both graft (HR 6.7; 95% CI 4.9-9.1) and patient survival (HR 2.3; 95% CI 1.5-3.3). Patients with rPSC underwent significantly more re-transplants than those without rPSC (OR 3.6, 95% CI 2.7-4.8). PSC recurrence has a negative impact on both graft and patient survival, independent of transplant-related covariates. Recurrence of PSC leads to higher number of re-transplantations and a 33% decrease in 10-year graft survival. ispartof: TRANSPLANT INTERNATIONAL vol:34 issue:8 pages:1455-1467 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

Cholangiopathies are diseases that affect cholangiocytes, the cells lining the biliary tract. Liver stem cells (LSCs) are able to differentiate into all cells of the liver and possibly influence the surrounding liver tissue by secretion of signaling molecules. One way in which cells can interact is through secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are small membrane-bound vesicles that contain proteins, microRNAs (miRNAs), and cytokines. We evaluated the contents of liver stem cell–derived EVs (LSCEVs), compared their miRNA contents to those of EVs isolated from hepatocytes, and evaluated the downstream targets of these miRNAs. We finally evaluated the crosstalk among LSCs, cholangiocytes, and human hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). We showed that LSCEVs were able to reduce ductular reaction and biliary fibrosis in multidrug resistance protein 2 (MDR2)(−/−) mice. Additionally, we showed that cholangiocyte growth was reduced and HSCs were deactivated in LSCEV-treated mice. Evaluation of LSCEV contents compared with EVs derived from hepatocytes showed a large increase in the miRNA, lethal-7 (let-7). Further evaluation of let-7 in MDR2(−/−) mice and human primary sclerosing cholangitis samples showed reduced levels of let-7 compared with controls. In liver tissues and isolated cholangiocytes, downstream targets of let-7 (identified by ingenuity pathway analysis), Lin28a (Lin28 homolog A), Lin28b (Lin28 homolog B), IL-13 (interleukin 13), NR1H4 (nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group H member 4) and NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa B), are elevated in MDR2(−/−) mice, but treatment with LSCEVs reduced levels of these mediators of ductular reaction and biliary fibrosis through the inhibition of NF-κB and IL-13 signaling pathways. Evaluation of crosstalk using cholangiocyte supernatants from LSCEV-treated cells on cultured HSCs showed that HSCs had reduced levels of fibrosis and increased senescence. CONCLUSION: Our studies indicate that LSCEVs could be a possible treatment for cholangiopathies or could be used for target validation for future therapies.

Takayasu arteritis and primary sclerosing cholangitis are two rare disorders. The pathogenesis of Takayasu arteritis involves immune-mediated mechanisms, and corticosteroids represent the mainstay for treatment. Conversely, the aetiology of primary sclerosing cholangitis remains elusive, even if dysimmunity seems to be one of the contributors to bile duct damage. Despite this, immunosuppressants do not alter disease course. In this paper we describe the association of these two rare disorders, with an unexpected normalization of cholestatic enzymes following steroid treatment. This might hint a novel subtype of sclerosing cholangitis with a prevalent immunebackground, or a local manifestation of Takayasu arteritis., Highlights • Unusual association of two rare entities: PSC (supported by the presence of IBD) and TA. • Onset of Takayasu after PSC diagnosis. • Lack of response to UDCA and fibrates. • Improvement of liver function tests after steroid treatment. • No changes on biliary tree reported on MRCP.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterized by progressive biliary inflammation and fibrosis. PSC has a strong association with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is diagnosed in 60-80% of patients. The coexistence of the PSC and IBD increases the risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). Furthermore, PSC predisposes to the occurrence of other neoplastic conditions, such as cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The pathogenesis of PSC is still unclear. Current evidence supports a multifactorial etiology, where genetic predisposition, altered gut microbiota, and immune-mediated phenomena play a crucial role. The highly variable natural history of PSC, with possible intercurrent clinical events (e.g., cholangitis, biliary lithiasis) that could be dissociated from the severity of underlying liver disease with consequent fluctuant clinical symptoms and serum cholestasis marker, makes the prognostic assessment of these patients challenging. To date, no effective medical therapy has been registered, and liver transplantation is the only therapeutic option in patients developing end-stage liver disease. In this chapter, we describe epidemiological and clinical features of PSC, current understanding of its pathogenesis, and address challenges and opportunities associated with its management while focusing on risk stratification.

Introduction: Studies on the epidemiology of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are mainly based on tertiary referral centers, and are retrospective case series susceptible to selection bias. The aim of this study was to estimate incidence, survival and cause of mortality of PSC in Italy, using population-based data. Methods: Data collected from the National Rare Diseases Registry (RNMR) and the National Mortality Database (NMD) were integrated and analyzed. Results: We identified 502 PSC incident cases. The crude incidence rate between 2012 and 2014 was 0.10 per 100,000 individuals. Sixty percent were male, mean age at disease onset and at diagnosis were 33 and 37 years, respectively, highlighting a mean diagnostic delay of 4 years. The rate of interregional mobility was 12%. Ten-year survival was 92%. In 32% of cases the cause of death was biliary-related, 12% died of biliary or gallbladder cancer. Conclusions: For rare diseases such as PSC, population-based cohort&rsquo, s studies are of paramount importance. Incidence rates of PSC in Italy are markedly lower and survival much longer than the ones reported from tertiary, single-centre series. Moreover, the diagnostic delay and the patient interregional mobility highlights the need for increasing awareness on the disease and for resource reallocation among Italian regions within the National Health Service

Autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs) have an important genetic background. This is supported by different lines of evidence, that is, clustering in families, high concordance rates in monozygotic twins, increased risk of the disease in siblings compared to general population, and association with other autoimmune conditions. In this chapter, we summarize current knowledge regarding each of the three most common AILDs (autoimmune hepatitis, AIH; primary biliary cholangitis, PBC; and primary sclerosing cholangitis, PSC); we then propose a series of possible future lines of investigation to explore the amount of heritability, which is still to be determined.

Background: Natural history models for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are derived from adult patient data, but have never been validated in children. It is unclear how accurate such models are for children with PSC. Methods: We utilized the pediatric PSC consortium database to assess the Revised Mayo Clinic, Amsterdam-Oxford, and Boberg models. We calculated the risk stratum and predicted survival for each patient within each model using patient data at PSC diagnosis, and compared it with observed survival. We evaluated model fit using the c-statistic. Results: Model fit was good at 1 year (c-statistics 0.93, 0.87, 0.82) and fair at 10 years (0.78, 0.75, 0.69) in the Mayo, Boberg, and Amsterdam-Oxford models, respectively. The Mayo model correctly classified most children as low risk, whereas the Amsterdam-Oxford model incorrectly classified most as high risk. All of the models underestimated survival of patients classified as high risk. Albumin, bilirubin, AST, and platelets were most associated with outcomes. Autoimmune hepatitis was more prevalent in higher risk groups, and over-weighting of AST in these patients accounted for the observed versus predicted survival discrepancy. Conclusions: All 3 models offered good short-term discrimination of outcomes but only fair long-term discrimination. None of the models account for the high prevalence of features of autoimmune hepatitis overlap in children and the associated elevated aminotransferases. A pediatric-specific model is needed. AST, bilirubin, albumin, and platelets will be important predictors, but must be weighted to account for the unique features of PSC in children.

Background Autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis represent the three major autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs). Their management is highly specialized, requires a multidisciplinary approach and often relies on expensive, orphan drugs. Unfortunately, their treatment is often unsatisfactory, and the care pathway heterogeneous across different centers. Disease-specific clinical outcome indicators (COIs) able to evaluate the whole cycle of care are needed to assist both clinicians and administrators in improving quality and value of care. Aim of our study was to generate a set of COIs for the three AILDs. We then prospectively validated these indicators based on a series of consecutive patients recruited at three tertiary clinical centers in Lombardy, Italy. Methods In phase I using a Delphi method and a RAND 9-point appropriateness scale a set of COIs was generated. In phase II the indicators were applied in a real-life dataset. Results Two-hundred fourteen patients were enrolled and followed-up for a median time of 54 months and the above COIs were recorded using a web-based electronic medical record program. The COIs were easy to collect in the clinical practice environment and their values compared well with the available natural history studies. Conclusions We have generated a comprehensive set of COIs which sequentially capture different clinical outcome of the three AILDs explored. These indicators represent a critical tool to implement a value-based approach to patients with these conditions, to monitor, compare and improve quality through benchmarking of clinical performance and to assess the significance of novel drugs and technologies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cholangiocytes in Health and Diseaseedited by Jesus Banales, Marco Marzioni, Nicholas LaRusso and Peter Jansen.

ObjectivePrimary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a genetically complex, inflammatory bile duct disease of largely unknown aetiology often leading to liver transplantation or death. Little is known about the genetic contribution to the severity and progression of PSC. The aim of this study is to identify genetic variants associated with PSC disease progression and development of complications.DesignWe collected standardised PSC subphenotypes in a large cohort of 3402 patients with PSC. After quality control, we combined 130 422 single nucleotide polymorphisms of all patients—obtained using the Illumina immunochip—with their disease subphenotypes. Using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models, we identified genetic variants associated with binary and time-to-event PSC subphenotypes.ResultsWe identified genetic variant rs853974 to be associated with liver transplant-free survival (p=6.07×10–9). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a 50.9% (95% CI 41.5% to 59.5%) transplant-free survival for homozygous AA allele carriers of rs853974 compared with 72.8% (95% CI 69.6% to 75.7%) for GG carriers at 10 years after PSC diagnosis. For the candidate gene in the region, RSPO3, we demonstrated expression in key liver-resident effector cells, such as human and murine cholangiocytes and human hepatic stellate cells.ConclusionWe present a large international PSC cohort, and report genetic loci associated with PSC disease progression. For liver transplant-free survival, we identified a genome-wide significant signal and demonstrated expression of the candidate gene RSPO3 in key liver-resident effector cells. This warrants further assessments of the role of this potential key PSC modifier gene.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: De novo malignancies after liver transplantation represent one of the leading causes of death in the long-term. It remains unclear if liver transplant recipients have an increased risk of colorectal cancer and if this negatively impacts on survival, particularly in those patients affected by primary sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis.METHODS: In this national multicentre cohort retrospective study, the incidence of colorectal cancer in 8115 evaluable adult patients undergoing a liver transplantation between January 1st 1990 and December 31st 2010 was compared to the incidence in the general population through standardised incidence ratios.RESULTS: 52 (0.6%) cases of colorectal cancer were identified at a median of 5.6 years post liver transplantation, predominantly grade 2 (76.9%) and stage T3 (50%) at diagnosis. The incidence rate of colorectal cancer in the whole liver transplant population was similar to the general UK population (SIR 0.92), but significantly higher (SIR 7.0) in the group of patients affected by primary sclerosing cholangitis/ulcerative colitis. One, five and ten-year survival rates from colorectal cancer diagnosis were 71%, 48% and 31% respectively and the majority of colorectal cancer patients died of cancer-specific causes.CONCLUSIONS: Liver transplantation alone is not associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer development. The primary sclerosing cholangitis/ulcerative colitis liver transplant population showed a significantly higher risk of colorectal cancer development than the general population, with a high proportion of advanced stage at diagnosis and a reduced patient survival. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Cholestasis is a frequent clinical condition initiating or complicating chronic liver diseases, particularly cholangiopathies, where the biliary epithelium is the primary target of the pathogenetic sequence. Until a few decades ago, understanding of cholestasis relied mostly on the experimental model of bile duct ligation in rodents. However, a simple model of biliary obstruction cannot reproduce the complex mechanisms and networks leading to cholestasis in cholangiopathies. These networks are underpinned by an intricate dysregulation of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic signals involving besides cholangiocytes, multiple cell elements of both innate and adaptive immunity. Therefore, in the last years, a wide range of animal models of biliary injury have been developed, mostly in mice, following three main approaches, chemical induction, immunization and genetic manipulation. In this review, we will give an update of the animal models of the two main cholangiopathies, primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cholangitis, which have provided us with the most relevant insights into the pathogenesis of these still controversial diseases.

The cholangipathies are a class of liver diseases that specifically affects the biliary tree. These pathologies may have different etiologies (genetic, autoimmune, viral, or toxic) but all of them are characterized by a stark inflammatory infiltrate, increasing overtime, accompanied by an excess of periportal fibrosis. The cellular types that mount the regenerative/reparative hepatic response to the damage belong to different lineages, including cholagiocytes, mesenchymal and inflammatory cells, which dynamically interact with each other, exchanging different signals acting in autocrine and paracrine fashion. Those messengers may be proinflammatory cytokines and profibrotic chemokines (IL-1, and 6; CXCL1, 10 and 12, or MCP-1), morphogens (Notch, Hedgehog, and WNT/β-catenin signal pathways) and finally growth factors (VEGF, PDGF, and TGFβ, among others). In this review we will focus on the main molecular mechanisms mediating the establishment of a fibroinflammatory liver response that, if perpetuated, can lead not only to organ dysfunction but also to neoplastic transformation. Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis/Caroli’s disease, two chronic cholangiopathies, known to be prodrome of cholangiocarcinoma, for which several murine models are also available, were also used to further dissect the mechanisms of fibroinflammation leading to tumor development.

Autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs) are complex conditions, which arise from the interaction between a genetic susceptibility and unknown environmental triggers. They represent a relevant cause of liver failure and liver transplantation worldwide. As a testimony of our progress in understanding the biology of AILDs and the disease progression is the overall median survival which has increased over the last decade. However, there are still major challenges such as the lack of therapies and surveillance strategies in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), the management and treatment of non-responders to first-line therapies in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and the need for tailoring immunosuppressive drugs in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The different disease course and treatment response in patients with AILDs might be related to a heterogeneous genetic background between individuals which translates in a heterogeneous clinical phenotype. Thus, it becomes essential to personalise management and treatment based on specific risk profiles, e.g. low-risk and high-risk, based on genetic and molecular signatures. It is now possible, thanks to the development of large-scale AILDs patient cohorts, that such diseases can be analysed using various high-throughput methods like gene expression profiling, next generation sequencing and other omics technologies to identify unique fingerprints based on which a personalised or tailor-made management and therapy can be developed. The final aim being to facilitate treatment decision-making that balances patient-specific risks and preferences. This is critical especially now with the current and forthcoming availability of more efficacious medications. To reach this point we need specific interventions such as creating bigger biobanks, sequencing more genomes and linking biological information to health-related data. We have already identified subsets of patients with different risk profiles among patients with PBC, PSC and AIH by using clinical tools such as liver histology, laboratory investigation and non-invasive methods. In this manuscript, we review the clinical features and investigations that already enable us to individualize the care of PBC patients and that might support the development of precision medicine (PM) in AILDs.

Autoimmune liver diseases, which include mainly autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and the variant syndromes, are often associated with extrahepatic autoimmune diseases. However, the association with cutaneous diseases is less well described. In the present article, we provide a systematic literature review on skin manifestations linked to each of these four autoimmune liver diseases, excluding skin manifestations of systemic diseases. The association of autoimmune hepatitis with vitiligo is well known, with a particular striking association with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis, a condition occurring almost entirely in children and adolescents, much rarer and more aggressive than type 1 autoimmune hepatitis; probable associations are also identified with alopecia areata, psoriasis, and pyoderma gangrenosum. Primary biliary cholangitis is not linked to lichen planus as previously assumed, but to vitiligo, psoriasis and the very rare amicrobial pustulosis of the folds. The proposed diagnostic criteria for this latter condition include the presence of anti-mitochondrial autoantibodies, the serological hallmark of primary biliary cholangitis. The very strong association of primary sclerosing cholangitis with inflammatory bowel diseases hampers the search for an association with skin diseases, since inflammatory bowel diseases have a strong association with various dermatological condition, including neutrophilic dermatoses and erythema nodosum. Nevertheless, a probable association of primary sclerosing cholangitis with psoriasis is identified in this review. Variant syndromes, also called overlap syndromes, are likely associated with vitiligo as well, which is not surprising, since autoimmune hepatitis is a feature of these conditions and they may share regions of the MHC.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic inflammatory liver disease of unknown etiology, primarily targeting cholangiocytes at any portion of the biliary tree. No effective medical treatments are currently available. A unique feature of PSC is its close association (about 80%) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), mainly ulcerative colitis (UC). As in many chronic inflammatory conditions, cancer development can complicate PSC, accounting for >40% of deaths. Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) and colorectal carcinoma (CRC) have been variably associated to PSC, with a prevalence up to 13-14%. The risk of cancer is one of the most challenging issues in the management of PSC; it raises several questions about cancer surveillance, early diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Key Messages: Among the different cancers complicating PSC, CCA is the most relevant, because it is more frequent (incidence of 0.5-1.5%) and because the prognosis is poor (5-year survival Conclusions: PSC may be regarded as paradigmatic of the sequence leading from chronic inflammatory epithelial damage to neoplastic transformation. Understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating this pathogenetic sequence, may improve strategies of disease surveillance and cancer prevention and treatment. PSC is a chronic inflammatory cholangiopathy of unknown etiology but likely immune-mediated, characterized by peribiliary inflammation and fibrosis leading to strictures in any portion (intra- and/or extrahepatic) of the bile duct system. No effective medical treatments are currently available. A unique feature of PSC is the close association (about 80%) with IBD, mainly UC, often diagnosed before PSC (PSC/UC). As in other chronic inflammatory diseases, development of malignancies is a feared complication of PSC.

Biliary-committed progenitor cells (small mouse cholangiocytes; SMCCs) from small bile ducts are more resistant to hepatobiliary injury than large mouse cholangiocytes (LGCCs) from large bile ducts. The definitive endoderm marker, forkhead box A2 (FoxA2), is the key transcriptional factor that regulates cell differentiation and tissue regeneration. Our aim was to characterize the translational role of FoxA2 during cholestatic liver injury. Messenger RNA expression in SMCCs and LGCCs was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array analysis. Liver tissues and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) from primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) patients were tested by real-time PCR for methylation, senescence, and fibrosis markers. Bile duct ligation (BDL) and multidrug resistance protein 2 (MDR2) knockout mice (MDR2-/-) were used as animal models of cholestatic liver injury with or without healthy transplanted large or small cholangiocytes. We demonstrated that FoxA2 was notably enhanced in murine liver progenitor cells and SMCCs and was silenced in human PSC and PBC liver tissues relative to respective controls that are correlated with the epigenetic methylation enzymes, DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 1 and DNMT3B. Serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency mice engrafted with SMCCs post-BDL showed significant changes compared to vehicle-treated mice, along with improved liver fibrosis. Enhanced expression of FoxA2 was observed in BDL mouse liver after SMCC cell therapy. Furthermore, activation of fibrosis signaling pathways were observed in BDL/MDR2-/- mouse liver as well as in isolated HSCs by laser capture microdissection, and these signals were recovered along with reduced hepatic senescence and enhanced hepatic stellate cellular senescence after SMCC engraft. Conclusion: The definitive endoderm marker and the positive regulator of biliary development, FoxA2, mediates the therapeutic effect of biliary-committed progenitor cells during cholestatic liver injury.

Summary Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) represent the three major autoimmune liver diseases (AILD). PBC, PSC, and AIH are all complex disorders in that they result from the effects of multiple genes in combination with as yet unidentified environmental factors. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified numerous risk loci for PBC and PSC that host genes involved in innate or acquired immune responses. These loci may provide a clue as to the immune-based pathogenesis of AILD. Moreover, many significant risk loci for PBC and PSC are also risk loci for other autoimmune disorders, such type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, suggesting a shared genetic basis and possibly similar molecular pathways for diverse autoimmune conditions. There is no curative treatment for all three disorders, and a significant number of patients eventually progress to end-stage liver disease requiring liver transplantation (LT). LT in this context has a favourable overall outcome with current patient and graft survival exceeding 80% at 5 years. Indications are as for other chronic liver disease although recent data suggest that while lethargy improves after transplantation, the effect is modest and variable so lethargy alone is not an indication. In contrast, pruritus rapidly responds. Cholangiocarcinoma, except under rigorous selection criteria, excludes LT because of the high risk of recurrence. All three conditions may recur after transplantation and are associated with a greater risk of both acute cellular and chronic ductopenic rejection. It is possible that a crosstalk between alloimmune and autoimmune response perpetuate each other. An immunological response toward self- or allo-antigens is well recognised after LT in patients transplanted for non-autoimmune indications and sometimes termed "de novo autoimmune hepatitis". Whether this is part of the spectrum of rejection or an autoimmune process is not clear. In this manuscript, we review novel findings about disease processes and mechanisms that lead to autoimmunity in the liver and their possible involvement in the immune response vs. The graft after LT. © 2013 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has been regarded as female-predominant without evidence of gender difference in survival. We aimed to compare the overall survival, incidence and prevalence of PBC in two well defined population-based studies over a recent decade, considering also sex ratios and mortality. We have taken advantage of population-wide records, during 2000–2009, in Lombardia, Northern Italy and Denmark. We focused on the incident cases of PBC, including gender and outcome, among 9.7 million inhabitants of Lombardia and 5.5 million of Denmark. In Lombardia there were 2,970 PBC cases with a female:male ratio of 2.3:1. The age/sex-adjusted annual incidence of PBC was 16.7 per million. Point prevalence was 160 per million on January 1st 2009. In Denmark there were 722 cases of incident PBC, female:male ratio was 4.2:1 and the annual incidence was 11.4 per million, a point prevalence of 115 per million in 2009. Cox regression multivariate analysis identified male sex as an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in both Italian (HR 2.36) and Danish population (HR 3.04). Our data indicate for PBC a sex ratio significantly lower than previously cited, a reversal of the usual latitudinal difference in prevalence and a surprisingly higher overall mortality for male patients.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is an enigmatic disease with scarce therapeutic options, potentially evolving in life-threatening complications, including cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The clinical management of PSC remains challenging and will benefit from identification of outcome indicators to assess the quality of care and of the outcomes. This study aims at: A) identifying Outcome Indicators (OIs) for PSC, and B) validating OIs in a real-life context, by performing an interim analysis of the VBMH study. METHODS. A) A panel of experts generated a list of OIs using a modified version of the Delphi method. B) OIs with the highest RAND/UCLA score were tested in an ongoing multicentric and prospective study (VBMH). RESULTS. Five OIs were identified on the basis of the highest rating values (close to 9) and the lowest disagreement indexes (next to 0). They include: annual incidence of acute cholangitis episodes (OI#1); mortality rate for patients not yet listed for LTx (OI#2); improvement in patient reported quality of life measured by EQ-VAS (a visual assessment scale ranging from 0 to 100 where the patient points out his present-day health status) and EQ-5D (assessment of 5 domains that measure daily performance: mobility, self care, anxiety/depression, usual activities and pain/discomforts) (OI#3); number of patients died for CCA or colorectal cancer (OI#4); incidence and/or worsening of osteoporosis, expressed as T-score differential over a 2-year interval (OI#5). In the validation study, 63 consecutive patients with PSC enrolled in 3 liver centres in Northern Italy were evaluated for a 24-month follow-up period. For each OI, the following values were reported: OI#1) cumulative incidence of 5.2%, resulting in 0.029 cholangitis/patient; OI#2 and OI#4) no patients died without being listed for transplantation or because of cancer during the study time; OI#3) 38.9 and 19.4% of patients showed an improvement in EQ-VAS and EQ-5D, respectively; OI#5) 3% of patients developed or worsened osteoporosis. In CONCLUSION, five OIs for PSC were identified using the Delphi method and received a highly shared consensus. Albeit the study population is small (consistent with the rarity of PSC) and the follow-up time is short as compared to the long natural history of the disease, these OIs have proven to be easy to collect and to work appropriately. Therefore, they are suitable to be extended to specialized centres involved in PSC management to further validate their clinical usefulness in a larger scale. Patient reported outcomes showed improvements in a significant proportion of patients, indicating the importance to refer these patients to specialized centers

Introduction: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is an enigmatic disease with scarce therapeutic options. The clinical management of PSC remains challenging and may benefit from Outcome Indicators (OI) to assess the quality of care. Aims: This study aims to: (A) identify OIs for PSC, and (B) validate OIs in a clinical context. Methods: (A) A panel of experts generated a list of OIs by Delphi method. (B) OIs with the highest RAND/UCLA score were tested in an ongoing multicentric, prospective study (Value-based Medicine in Hepatology, VBMH). Results: Five OIs were identified having the highest rating values and low disagreement indexes: annual rate of acute cholangitis episodes (OI#1); mortality rate for patients not yet listed for liver transplantation (OI#2); rate of quality of life improvement, measured by EQ-VAS and EQ-5D (OI#3); number of patients died for cholangiocarcinoma and colo-rectal carcinoma (OI#4); incidence and/or worsening of osteoporosis (OI#5). In the validation study, 63 consecutive patients with PSC enrolled in 3 tertiary centres in Northern Italy were evaluated for a median 24-months follow-up period. For each OI, the following values were reported: (OI#1) cumulative incidence of 5.2%, resulting in 0.029 cholangitis/patient; (OI#2, OI#4) no patients died without being listed for transplantation or because of cancer during study time; (OI#3) 38.9 and 19.4% of patients showed an improvement in EQ-VAS and EQ-5D parameters, respectively; (OI#5) 3% of patients developed or worsened osteoporosis. Conclusions: Five OIs for PSC were identified reporting high consensus. Albeit the study population is small (as in the case of rare diseases) and the follow-up time is short as compared to the long natural history of the disease, these OIs have proven to be easy to collect and to work appropriately. Therefore, they are suitable to be extended to specialized centres involved in PSC management to further validate their clinical usefulness.

Background & Aims: Several studies reported an association between autoimmune liver diseases (AiLD) and antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) positivity. We performed a meta-analysis of studies evaluating the association of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) with aPL positivity and with aPL-related thrombotic events.Methods: Studies evaluating the association of AiLD with aPL (anticardiolipin [aCL], anti-β2 glycoprotein-I [anti-β2GPI], lupus anticoagulant [LA] antibodies) and with aPL-related thrombotic complications were systematically searched in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and EMBASE databases.Results: A total of 10 studies (750 patients with AiLD and 1,244 healthy controls) were included in the analysis on the prevalence of aPL and showed that AiLD are significantly associated with the presence of aCL and anti-β2GPI. The association with aCL positivity was consistently confirmed in PBC (OR: 13.93, 95%CI: 4.69-41.38), AIH (OR: 23.50, 95%CI: 4.28-129.13), and PSC (OR: 18.21, 95%CI: 7.05-47.08). Similarly, anti-β2GPI were found more frequently in PBC (OR: 25.10, 95%CI: 4.77-132.11), AIH (OR: 48.57, 95%CI: 11.07-213.09), and PSC (OR: 36.30, 95%CI: 6.55-201.31). These findings are confirmed when separately analyzing IgM, IgG, and IgA directed against phospholipids. Two of the 10 included articles and 1 further study (67 cases and 75 controls) showed a trend - not achieving statistical significance - towards a higher prevalence of thrombotic complications in AIH patients with aPL as compared to those with only AIH (OR: 1.67, 95%CI: 0.46-6.05).Conclusion: PBC, AIH, and PSC are significantly associated with aPL positivity. The association with aPL-related thrombotic complications should be further studied.