title: Antimitochondrial antibodies and other antibodies in primary biliary cirrhosis: diagnostic and prognostic value.
abstract: Antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) are the serologic cornerstone in the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), even if they are not detectable in a proportion of patients, notwithstanding the most sensitive and sophisticated technologies used. To fill in the serologic gap in AMA-negative PBC, there is sound evidence to consider antinuclear antibody (ANA) patterns, such as anti-multiple nuclear dots and anti-membranous/rim-like, as PBC-specific surrogate hallmarks of the disease, and their detection can be considered virtually diagnostic. Furthermore, particular ANA specificities, such as anti-gp210, anti-p62, anticentromere antibodies, and anti-dsDNA, may provide additional diagnostic and prognostic information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Cardioangiology, Hepatology, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Policlinico Sant'Orsola-Malpighi, Via Massarenti, 9-40138, Bologna, Italy. luigi.muratori@unibo.it <luigi.muratori@unibo.it>
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muratori
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Granito
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muratori
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: Francesco B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Bianchi
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000276:immunology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies