title: Anti-adipocyte antibody response in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A significant number of autoantibodies have been reported in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. In the present study, our aim was to assess the role of disease and cell-specific antibodies, namely anti-adipocyte antibodies (anti-AdAb) in patients with NAFLD and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
  
  
  METHODS
  Flow cytometry was used to detect the presence of anti-AdAb (immunoglobulin M [IgM] and immunoglobulin G [IgG]) in sera from patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD (n = 98) and in controls (n = 49) without liver disease. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to draw associations between anti-AdAb IgM and IgG levels and the different clinical variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with NAFLD had significantly higher levels of anti-AdAb IgM and significantly lower levels of AdAb IgG when compared with controls (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively). Patients with NASH had significantly higher levels of anti-AdAb IgM when compared with non-NASH NAFLD patients, P = 0.04. In multivariate analysis, anti-AdAb IgM was independently associated with a higher risk for NASH (odds ratio[OR]: 2.90 [confidence interval (CI) 1.18-7.16], P = 0.02). Anti-AdAb IgM was also found to be independently associated with portal inflammation in patients with NAFLD (OR: 3.01 [CI 1.15-7.90 P = 0.02]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anti-AdAb IgM was independently associated with NAFLD and NASH while anti-AdAb IgG was found to be protective against NAFLD. Anti-AdAb IgM was found specifically to be associated with the inflammatory processes in NAFLD. These findings indicate that the anti-AdAb IgM and IgG may play an immunomodulatory role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH.
authors.affiliation: Betty and Guy Beatty Center for Integrated Research, Inova Health System, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Azza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karrar
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stepanova
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alaparthi
authors.forename: Sneha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lingam
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Younoszai
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Khatera S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Younossi
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Monge
authors.forename: Sharon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Zobair M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Younossi
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000276:immunology; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M
keywords: NAFLD; NASH; antibodies; humoral immune response; steatohepatitis