title: Smooth muscle autoantibodies with F-actin specificity.
abstract: Autoimmune hepatitis is a rare condition characterized by the presence of autoantibodies, among other features. Anti-smooth muscle autoantibodies with F-actin reactivity have long been considered specific markers of this disease, representing a valuable diagnostic element because they are distinctive of a subtype of autoimmune hepatitis: type 1. Indirect immunofluorescence is considered the best available method for detection of these autoantibodies, mainly because of its elevated sensibility, but it has some flaws: it is highly operator-dependent, and the standardization of the technique has not been achieved until now. We compared ELISA and Immunodot methods for confirming indirect immunofluorescence results in what concerns smooth-muscle autoantibodies' F-actin reactivity and concluded that ELISA is the most useful one. A new substrate is available for indirect immunofluorescence detection of anti-F-actin specificity, and seems to be a promising one, but further evaluation is needed.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. anafsoares@gmail.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000276:immunology*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D001323:Autoantibodies