Antibodies to soluble liver antigen in patients with various liver diseases: A multicentre study. (7th January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Efe, Cumali; Ozaslan, Ersan; Wahlin, Staffan; Purnak, Tugrul; Muratori, Luigi; Quarneti, Chiara; Yüksel, Osman; Muratori, Paolo
• Is Part Of: Liver international. Volume 33:Number 2(2013:Feb.)
• Page Start: 190
• Page End: 196
• Publication Date: 2013-01-07
• Subjects: Liver -- Periodicals; Liver -- Diseases -- Periodicals; 616.362
• DOI: 10.1111/liv.12022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1478-3223

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en" id="liv12022-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="liv12022-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Antibodies to soluble liver antigen (anti‐SLA) are specific serological markers of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The clinical significance and frequency of anti‐SLA have never been reported among AIH patients from Italy and Turkey.</p> <p>To retrospectively assess the estimated prevalence, sensitivity, specificity and clinical significance of anti‐SLA in AIH and various liver diseases.</p> </sec> <sec id="liv12022-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>A total of 986 patients who had been tested for serum anti‐SLA were included in study. The presence of anti‐SLA was detected using recombinant enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and immuno‐blot. The general characteristics and outcome of patients were obtained from their medical records.</p> </sec> <sec id="liv12022-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Antibodies to SLA were found in 30 (3%) of 986 patients. Of these, 27 (90%) had AIH and its variants, whereas the remaining three (10%) had primary biliary cirrhosis. The prevalence of anti‐SLA was 9% in AIH patients from Italy and 15% in patients from Turkey. The specificity of these antibodies was 99.5%, whereas sensitivity was 11%. The positive predictive and negative predictive values were 90% and 77.5% respectively (95% confidence interval). Biochemical remission was achieved in 90% of anti‐SLA positive AIH patients, but relapse after immunosuppressive withdrawal or during maintenance therapy was observed in 53% of the patients.</p> </sec> <sec id="liv12022-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Seropositivity for anti‐SLA occurs at similar frequencies in AIH patients from different geographical regions and ethnic groups. The sensitivity of anti‐SLA is low, but it has high specificity for AIH. Additional studies are necessary to prove clinical significance of anti‐SLA in AIH.</p> </sec> </abstract>