Pernicious Anemia in Patients with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Autoimmune Hepatitis, and Chronic Viral Hepatitis

Backgrounds: Cases of Pernicious Anemia (PA) with Autoimmune Liver Diseases (ALDs) or chronic viral hepatitis have been uncommon. There have been few articles regarding the associations between these diseases. Methods: A review of concomitant cases of PA in patients with ALDs, such as Auto Immune Hepatitis (AIH) or Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC), and patients with chronic viral hepatitis with or without Interferon (IFN) treatment were conducted. Results: Six cases of concomitant PA and ALDs (five were PBC and one was AIH) and seven cases of chronic viral hepatitis (six were due to HCV, one was due to HBV; five cases were of IFN-induced PA and two were of PA without IFN treatment) have been reported. In these concomitant cases, serum vitamin B12 deficiency was documented in all 13 cases and serum Intrinsic Factor Antibodies (IFA) were positive in 11 of 12 cases, excluding one case in which detection of IFA was not mentioned. Conclusions: Although concomitant cases of PA in patients with ALDs or chronic viral hepatitis have been rarely reported, PA should be considered in cases of progressive macrocytic anemia in these patients.