Cytokines and chronic liver disease

LEONARDO FAINBOIM; ALEJANDRA CHERÑAVSKY; NATALIA PALADINO; ANA C. FLORES; LOURDES ARRUVITO

Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews

Año: 2007 vol. 18 p. 143 - 157

From an immunological point of view, the healthy liver has been usually associated with the phenomenon of tolerance. A microenvironment of regulatory cytokines produced by liver Kuppfer cells and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells has contributed, together with resident dendritic cells, to generate a tolerogenic environment in this tissue. In this review we discussed the intrahepatic responses to different sorts of liver injury, such as hepatotrophic viruses, alcohol or putative self-antigens. In each case we analyzed the impact of different cytokines in the clinical outcome of the different pathological situations.