Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2023; 29(47): 6161-6164
Published online Dec 21, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i47.6161
Clinical characteristics and outcomes of autoimmune pancreatitis based on serum immunoglobulin G4 levels: A single-center, retrospective cohort study
Fouad Jaber, Khaled Elfert, Saqr Alsakarneh, Azizullah Beran, Mohammed Jaber, Manesh Kumar Gangwani, Yazan Abboud
Fouad Jaber, Saqr Alsakarneh, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas, MO 64108, United States
Khaled Elfert, Department of Internal Medicine, SBH Health System, New York, NY 10457, United States
Azizullah Beran, Department of Gastroenterology, Indiana University, 420 University Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States
Mohammed Jaber, Department of Medical Education, Al Azhar University School of Medicine, Gaza P.O.Box 108, Palestine
Manesh Kumar Gangwani, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, United States
Yazan Abboud, Department of Internal Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newar, NJ 57873, United States
Author contributions: Jaber F conceived the research; Jaber F, Alsakarneh S, Elfert K designed the research workflow; Jaber F, Alsakarneh S, Abboud Y, and Jaber M wrote the final manuscript; Beran A and Gangwani MK supervised the project; all authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fouad Jaber, MD, Doctor, Master's Student, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, No. 5000 Holmes St, Kansas, MO 64108, United States. fouad.jaber.md@gmail.com
Received: September 22, 2023
Peer-review started: September 22, 2023
First decision: November 1, 2023
Revised: November 10, 2023
Accepted: November 21, 2023
Article in press: November 21, 2023
Published online: December 21, 2023
Processing time: 88 Days and 0.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The study on autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) based on serum immunoglobulin (Ig) G4 levels offers valuable insights into this complex condition. Elevated IgG4 and IgA levels in patients with AIP were associated with more active immune system and higher relapse rates, highlighting the potential of IgG4 as a biomarker. However, limitations include the lack of analysis on IgA levels in relation to IgG4 levels, the absence of data on autoantibodies, and the lack of reporting on family history and genetic factors. As awareness of AIP grows, there is a need for highly sensitive and specific autoantibodies to aid in diagnosis, especially for IgG4-negative AIP patients.