CLINICAL, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL ASPECTS IN AUTOIMMUNE HEPATITIS

Abstract

"The typical phenotype of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is well recognized, but special subforms such as AIH with sero-negativity for autoantibodies, severe and acute forms of AIH, forms that have concomitant features of primary biliary cirrhosis or occur in the context of other liver diseases, making diagnosis and therapy a challenge for the clinician. The objective of this study was the complex analysis in terms of clinical and phenotypic characteristics of patients with AIH diagnosed at the County Clinical Emergency Hospital of Craiova, between November 2015 and September 2019. In order to carry out this study, we set the following specific objectives: • Determining the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with AIH compared to a group of patients diagnosed with chronic viral hepatitis C (CHC), in terms of age of onset, location, severity of inflammatory lesions and intestinal and extra-intestinal complications; • Evaluation of the biochemical profile in the studied groups by dosing the serum levels of liver enzymes such as transaminases [Aspartate-amino-transferase (AST), Alanine-amino-transferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TBIL), γ-glutamyl-transpeptidase (γ-GT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP)], and total γ-globulins (IgG, IgM, IgA)]; • Evaluation of the serological profile of patients with AIH by determining the presence of autoantibodies [ANA, anti-SMA, anti-soluble-liver-antigen (anti-SLA) antibodies, anti-liver kidney microsomal type 1 (anti-LKM-1) antibodies, anti-liver cytosol antigen type 1 (anti-LC1) antibodies, anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA)]. In our study we obtained the following patient profile: female patient, from an urban areas, aged at the time of diagnosis in the decade of age 45-55 years, with sero-positivity for antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA), with elevated levels of liver enzymes, accompanied by polyclonal hyper-gamaglobulinemia (IgG)."