title: Autoantibody prevalence in children with liver disease due to chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
abstract: HCV infection and interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy have been associated with autoimmunity. To assess whether chronic liver disease (CLD) due to HCV infection or its treatment with IFN-alpha cause autoimmune manifestations, the prevalence of tissue autoantibodies in 51 children with chronic HCV infection and 84 with other CLD was analysed by standard techniques. Sixty-five percent of patients with chronic HCV infection, 66% with chronic hepatitis B infection and 60% with Wilson's disease were positive for at least one autoantibody. In the 51 subjects with chronic HCV infection (29 treated with IFN-alpha, 22 untreated), tested on 165 occasions over a median of 9 months (range 5-42 months), autoantibodies to nuclei (ANA), smooth muscle (SMA), gastric parietal cell (GPC) and/or liver kidney microsomal type 1 (LKM-1) were similarly prevalent in treated and untreated patients (90% versus 68%, P = 0.12). Positivity for SMA was present in 67%, GPC in 32%, ANA in 10%, LKM-1 in 8% of cases. Treatment with IFN-alpha had to be suspended due to transaminase elevation in one SMA-positive, one ANA-positive but in three of four LKM-1-positive patients. Our results show that: (i) autoantibodies are common in viral-induced hepatitis and Wilson's disease; (ii) positivity for SMA, GPC, ANA is part of the natural course of chronic HCV infection, their prevalence being unaffected by IFN-alpha; and (iii) IFN-alpha should be used cautiously in the treatment of LKM-1/HCV-positive patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hepatology, University College London Medical School, UK.
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Gregorio
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pensati
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iorio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vegnente
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mieli-Vergani
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vergani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000276:immunology; D010295:Parietal Cells, Gastric / Q000276:immunology; D013270:Stomach / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; C060729:anti-liver kidney microsome antibody