Objective To study the role of suppressor of cytokine signaling ( SOCS ) in the pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis( PBC),the levels of SOCS protein and the changes of function of dendritic cell(DC) were respectively observed from PBC patients.MethodsThe study population consisted of 10 patients of PBC and 8 healthy controls.Phenotypic analysis of cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)-derived DC was performed by flow cytometry (FCM),such as CD83,CD86 and human leukocyte antigen DR (HLA-DR).The levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10),interferon-γ( IFN-γ) and IL-12 in culture supematant of DC were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ).The protein levels of SOCS1 and SOCS3 were detected by Western blot ( WB ).The features of changes in these parameters were analyzed between the two groups.ResultsThe expression of CD83,CD86 and HLA-DR in PBC patients were ( 79.4 ± 4.8 ) ％,( 86.5 ± 6.3 ) ％ and (90.0 ± 3.5 ) ％,which were significantly higher than those in healthy control group[ (68.3 ±4.1 )％,(74.2 ±6.3)％ and (83.6 ±7.6)％ ],respectively (t =5.340,4.120,2.514,P ＜0.05).The levels of IL-12 and IFN-γin PBC patients were (53.5 ± 11.1)and (32.0 ±9.0) ng/L,which were significantly higher than those in healthy control group[ (32.1 ± 10.7) and (15.4 ± 8.1 ) ng/L; t =4.123,3.818,P ＜ 0.01 ].There were not any significant difference of IL-10 level between PBC patients [ (7.0 ± 4.6) ng/L ] and the healthy controls [ ( 5.8 ± 4.2) ng/L; t =0.563,P ＞ 0.05 ].The proteins levels of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in PBMC-derived DC from PBC group were decreased significantly than those in healthy control group.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the PBMC-derived DC in PBC patients has greater ability of potent maturation and antigen presentation function.The decreased expression of SOCS levels may be associated with the excessive immunological reaction and the breakdown of self-tolerance.