title: [The value of antimitochondrial antibody and its subtypes in the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A study on the value of antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) and its subtypes anti-M2, anti-M4, and anti-M9 in diagnosing primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Antimitochondrial antibody was detected by indirect immunofluorescence and anti-M2, anti-M4 and anti-M9 by Western blotting. AMA and anti-M2 of 78 PBC patients, of 35 non-PBC hepato-biliary disease patients and 20 healthy controls were studied and anti-M2, anti-M4 and anti-M9 were studied in 30 of the 78 PBC patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  96.2% (75/78) of PBC patients were AMA positive and 94.9% (74/78) of PBC patients were anti-M2 positive. Only three among the 35 non-PBC patients were positive for AMA (one with very low titre). None of the 35 non-PBC patients was anti-M2 positive. AMA and anti-M2 were negative in all the healthy controls. Among the 30 anti-M2 positive patients, 16 patients were anti-M4 positive (16/30, 53.3%) and 4 patients were anti-M9 positive (4/30, 13.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AMA and its subtypes (special anti-M2) are important sero-immunological markers for the diagnosis of PBC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Clinical Immunology Center, Chang Zheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China. yaodingkang@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Ding-Kang
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Wei-Fen
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Wei-Zhong
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hai-Ying
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiao-Qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Li-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies