The CYP450 mouse model for autoimmune liver disease: Breaking of self-tolerance in transgenic CYP2D6-mice by viral infection

Autoimmune liver diseases, such as autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), often have severe consequences for the patient. Because of a lack of appropriate animal models not much is known about their potential viral etiology. Infection by liver-tropic viruses is one possibility for the breakdown of self-tolerance. We therefore infected mice with an Adenovirus expressing the natural human autoantigen Cytochrome P450–2D6 (Ad–2D6). Ad–2D6-infected mice developed persistent autoimmune liver disease, apparent by cellular infiltration, hepatic fibrosis, ‘fusedrsquor; liver lobules, and necrosis…