Autoantibodies associated with primary biliary cholangitis are common among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus even in the absence of elevated liver enzymes.

Autoantibodies associated with primary biliary cholangitis are common among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus even in the absence of elevated liver enzymes. Clin Exp Immunol. 2020 Sep 10;: Authors: Ahmad A, Heijke R, Eriksson P, Wirestam L, Kechagias S, Dahle C, Sjöwall C Abstract Knowledge of concomitant autoimmune liver diseases (AILD) is more detailed in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) compared to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Herein, the prevalence of autoantibodies associated with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) was investigated in stored sera from patients with SLE (n=280) and pSS (n=114). Antibodies against mitochondria (AMA), liver-kidney microsomal (LKM) antigen, smooth muscle (SMA) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were analysed with immunofluorescence microscopy. In addition, AILD-associated autoantibodies were tested with immunoblot. Prior to sampling, eight SLE (2.9%) and three pSS (2.6%) cases were diagnosed with AILD. Among SLE-cases without known AILD (n=272), 26 (9.6%) had PBC-associated antibodies, 15 (5.5%) AIH-associated antibodies (excluding ANA), and one serological overlap. Most subjects with PBC-associated autoantibodies had liver enzymes within reference limits (22/27, 81%) or mild laboratory cholestasis (2/27; 7.4%), whereof one fulfilled the diagnostic PBC-criteria. AMA-M2 detected by immunoblot was the commonest PBC-associated autoantibody in SLE (20/272, 7...
Source: Clinical and Developmental Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Clin Exp Immunol Source Type: research