Influence of autoantibodies on the pathology of primary biliary cirrhosis; with special reference to autoimmune cholangiopathy

• Published in: Kanzo Vol. 36; no. 7; pp. 408 - 414
• Main Authors: MIYACHI, Kiyomitsu, ISHIGURO, Noriko, HAYASHI, Naoaki, HASHIMOTO, Etsuko, AOKA, Keiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japan Society of Hepatology 1995
• Subjects: Autoimmune Cholangiopathy
• ISSN: 0451-4203; 1881-3593
• DOI: 10.2957/kanzo.36.408

We conducted a study to determine whether the characteristics of the pathology of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) varied according to the autoantibodies, and to investigate whether autoimmune cholangiopathy (AIC) could be clearly diffrentiated from PBC as an independent disease. The subjects of this study were 72 patients with clinically and pathologically diagnosed as PBC whom we classified into 4 groups based on the presence or absence of anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA), antinuclear antibody (ANA), and M2 antibody. Group I (n=15) was positive for either AMA or M2 as well as ANA, group II (n=44) was positive for either AMA or M2 and negative for ANA, group III (n=9) was negative for both AMA and M2 and positive for ANA, and group IV (n=4) was negative for all 3 autoantibodies. The only significant difference among the 4 groups was a low IgM level in group III, which corresponded to AIC. No differences in the ANA titer or pattern were found between the AMA-positive group I and the AMA-negative group III. Steroid therapy was given to 3 patients in group III, but a marked response was only observed in 1 patient. Thus, no characteristic differences of pathology were found when PBC was classified on the basis of autoantibodies.