Autoimmune hepatitis

[nanb]

Can autoimmune hepatitis cause a high IgG level

[pooh55811]

Autoimmune  Hepatitis causes an elevated IgG. I found the following information on line:


Autoimmune Hepatitis: Diagnosis

Indications for Testing

    Persistently elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) 5x normal in the absence of any other cause of liver disease or damage

Criteria for Diagnosis

    Diagnosis of exclusion – need to rule out other etiologies of liver disease, including toxins, infections, and hereditary diseases
        Serum IgG >2.5 g/dL
        Autoantibodies may include the following
            Antinuclear antibodies (ANA)
            Anti-smooth muscle antibody (SMA)
            Anti-liver/kidney microsomal type 1 (LKM-1) antibody
            Antimitochondrial antibody (AMA)
            Anti-soluble liver antigen (SLA) antibody
        Autoantibodies may not be present in 10-30% of patients with clinical features of AIH
        Histology to evaluate liver inflammation and fibrosis
    
Laboratory Testing

    Liver function tests – usually elevated
    Hepatitis panel – rule out acute or chronic hepatitis
    Immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG) – elevated
    Nonspecific antibodies – positive ANA homogenous pattern, rheumatoid factor
    Specific antibodies
        Anti-LKM-1 antibodies
            React uniformly with cytochrome P450 2D6 – a 50kDA protein found in the cytoplasm of all hepatocytes and renal proximal tubular cells
            In the U.S., LKM-1 antibodies are common in pediatric patients and rare in adults
            More commonly associated with AIH type 2
            LKM-1 antibodies occur in only 4% of adults with AIH
        Anti-SMA (F-actin)
            Presence of SMA antibodies – hallmark of AIH type 1
            Also seen in chronic hepatitis
            Testing anti-LKM-1 positive patients for ANA and SMA may be helpful in distinguishing between AIH types 1 and 2
        Anti-SLA antibodies
            Presence of SLA antibodies – almost 100% specificity for AIH; however, only 12-30% of patients have these antibodies

http://www.arupconsult.com/Topics/AIH.html

    
Hope this helps.

[JasmineT]

This is the hepatitis C forum.  You should post your question on the Autoimmune hepatitis forum.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Hepatitis-Autoimmune/show/224