title: [Occurrence of autoantibodies in patients with alcoholic liver disease].
abstract: Autoantigens are present in normal cells and tissues. However, in physiological conditions autoantigens pose no danger due to the phenomenon of immunologic tolerance. The loss of immunologic tolerance and following autoagression could result from the structure changes of autoantigens as an effect of the activity of chemical factors, such as acetaldehyde, which is metabolite of ethanol. The aim of the study was to evaluate of occurrence of autoantibodies in patients with alcoholic liver disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-five patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease and 16 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The presence of autoantibodies against liver proteins were assessed. The occurrence of studied autoantibodies was evaluated with regard to the degree of liver damage. Inclusion criteria were: age over 21 yrs, at least 3-yrs history of alcoholic liver disease, HBV and HCV-negativity, absence of autoimmunological diseases. The presence of autoantibodies AMA-M2, SLA/LP, LKM-1, LC1, anti-F-actin, desmin and miozin in serum was assessed by immunoblotting method and ANA by ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Autoantibodies were demonstrated in sera of 33% of patients. Single isolated autoantibodies were present in 24% of patients, whereas 9% of patients have several autoantibodies. The most prevalent were anti-F-actin (19%) and antinuclear antibodies (11%). Occurrence of anti-F-actin antibodies increased with degree of liver damage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Concluding these results suggest that alcohol may contribute to the activation of autoimmune processes, and particularly against contractile filaments of cells for which F-actin antibodies are produced.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Bialystok, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepathology, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Szulzyk
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parfieniuk-Kowerda
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luto
authors.forename: Tadeusz Wojciech
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Lapiński
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flisiak
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D001323:Autoantibodies