The Cause of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis?

Although the cause of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is unknown, previous studies have suggested that genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of the disease and that infectious agents such as Escherichia coli, mycobacteria, or a retrovirus might be implicated. To determine if a transient environmental factor, such as an infectious agent, is associated with PBC development, investigators conducted a space–time clustering analysis of PBC cases using population-based data from northeast England between 1987 and 2003.

PBC cases were defined as “definite” if patients were antimitochondrial antibody–positive, demonstrated cholestatic pattern of liver injury, and had liver histology consistent with PBC; cases were “probabl…