Introduction
Granulysin is a cytotoxic molecule involved in cellular immune reactions.
Materials and methods
The levels of granulysin mRNA in the peripheral blood and serum granulysin of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC)
were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The expression
of granulysin mRNA and serum protein in PBC was increased compared to the controls.
Results
The expression of granulysin mRNA or serum protein showed close associations, respectively, with natural killer cell population
in PBC patients. Serum granulysin was down-regulated by steroid and ursodeoxycholic therapy for PBC according to the improvement
of severity of PBC. In addition, the expression of serum granulysin were related to serum total bilirubin and Mayo Clinic
risk score. The serum granulysin reflected the cellular immune status of patients with PBC, and the expression correlated
with the severity of PBC.
Conclusion
Therefore, there is a clinical benefit to monitoring granulysin as a biomarker of the prognosis of patients with PBC.
Keywords Primary biliary cirrhosis - granulysin - cytotoxic T lymphocytes - natural killer cells - Mayo Clinic risk score
Cheng Qian, Sunxiao Chen, and Dingkang Yao contributed equally to this work.