AccScience Publishing / EJMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/EJMO025230234
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Characteristics of T-cell and B-cell receptor repertoires in patients with autoimmune hepatitis

Junning Zhang1† ,  Zhihui Feng1† ,  Biao Zhang1 ,  Yi Liu1 ,  Chunhong Li1 ,  Meng Meng1 ,  Fei Yang1 ,  Man Yang1 ,  Xianliang Hou1,2*
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1 Guangxi Key Laboratory of Metabolic Reprogramming and Intelligent Medical Engineering for Chronic Diseases, Department of Central Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, Guangxi, China
2 Department of Central Laboratory, Shenzhen Hospital (Longgang), Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
EJMO, 025230234 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025230234
Received: 2 June 2025 | Revised: 27 August 2025 | Accepted: 25 September 2025 | Published online: 27 October 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Introduction: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver disease characterized by inflammation resulting from the body’s immune system attacking its own liver cells. T-cell receptor (TCR) and B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoires are crucial mediators of autoimmune diseases, with the cause of B-lineage dysregulation remaining elusive.

Objective: This study aims to comprehensively describe the changes in TCR and BCR repertoires in the peripheral blood and liver of patients with AIH.

Methods: High-throughput sequencing and multiplex polymerase chain reaction amplification were applied to explore the TCR and BCR gene repertoire characteristics in 60 patients with AIH and control groups.

Results: The findings revealed a significant reduction in the diversity of BCR heavy-chain (BCR-H) repertoire and the length of BCR-H complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) in the peripheral blood of AIH patients. Interestingly, the pre-selection BCR-H CDR3s in AIH patients were abnormally short, suggesting irregularities in the early stages of B-cell development and repertoire formation in the bone marrow. Furthermore, compared with controls, peripheral blood samples from AIH patients showed reduced diversity in the TCR β-chain (TCR-β) repertoire, longer CDR3 lengths, biased TCR-β variable gene usage, and extensive TCR-β sharing. The analysis revealed a comparable distribution of clone diversity between liver tissue samples from AIH and control groups, potentially attributable to the architectural characteristics of AIH liver T and B cells, which are marked by the presence of multiple antigen-responsive T and B cells rather than a single reactive T and B lymphocyte clone.

Conclusion: This study reveals distinct alterations in the TCR and BCR repertoires among patients with AIH, potentially offering novel insights for its prevention and diagnosis.

Keywords
T cell receptor
Immunoglobulin heavy chain
Immune repertoire
High-throughput sequencing
Autoimmune hepatitis
Funding
This work was supported by the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2025A1515012661); Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2024GXNSFAA010096); Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20230807150913027 and JCYJ20240813165111016); Guilin Science Research and Technology Development Project (20230135- 4-2 20220139-13-2); Guangdong Province Medical Science and Technology Research Fundation (B2025207); Guangxi Medical and Health Appropriate Technology Development and Promotion Project (S2024075); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82460324 and 82101877); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M740344); Innovation Training Program for College Students (202410601013 and S202410601182); Guangxi Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Microenvironmental Regulation (2023KF006, 3030302213, and 2021KF001); and Guangxi Medical and Health Key Cultivation Discipline Construction Project.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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