Autoantibody profiles in autoimmune hepatitis and chronic hepatitis C identifies similarities in patients with severe disease

Table 1 Distribution of study group according to age and gender

Parameter	CHC (n = 50)	AIH (n = 20)	HC (n = 20)
Age (yr), mean ± SD
Range	10-65	16-69	16-69
mean ± SD	33 ± 2.38	37 ± 3.22	37 ± 3.22
Gender, n (%)
Female	24 (48)	15 (75)	15 (75)
Male	26 (52)	5 (25)	5 (25)
Age (yr), mean ± SD
Female	34 ± 2.28	35 ± 3.42	35 ± 3.42
Male	33 ± 2.38	47 ± 3.12	47 ± 3.12

CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; HC: Hepatitis virus.

Table 2 Distribution and comparison of autoantibodies between the chronic hepatitis C and the autoimmune hepatitis patient group n (%)

Autoantibodies	CHC	AIH	HC	HCV-AIH
	(n = 50)	(n = 20)	(n = 20)	P value
SMA	4 (8)	0 (0)	0 (0)
LKM-1	11 (22)	9 (45)	0 (0)
ANA	16 (32)	13 (65)	4 (20)
Total	31 (36)	23 (75)	4 (20)	0.00311

¹Indicates significant difference on the 0.01 level. Statistically significant differences were determined using analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s test. CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; HC: Hepatitis virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 3 Estimation of IgG and IgM and comparison between study groups (mean ± SD)

Groups	IgG (mg/dL)	IgM (mg/dL)
CHC	1841 ± 66.44	176 ± 5.561
AIH	2054 ± 152.62	228 ± 5.561
HC	1098 ± 57.691	127 ± 4.801

¹Denotes significant difference comparing with the other two groups, P < 0.05. Statistically significant differences were determined using analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s test. CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; HC: Hepatitis virus.

Table 4 Comparison of the markers of liver injury among study groups (mean ± SD)

Groups	AP (UI/L)	ALT (UI/L)	AST (UI/L)	ALB (g/dL)	TSB (mg/dL)
CHC	296 ± 19.901	30 ± 1.321	45 ± 1.711	3.8 ± 0.112	1.0 ± 0.272
AIH	373 ± 32.101	37 ± 3.201	56 ± 4.101	3.3 ± 0.151	4.0 ± 1.571
HC	171 ± 8.301	19 ± 1.001	28 ± 1.281	4.0 ± 0.062	0.6 ± 0.052

¹Denotes significant difference comparing with the other two groups, P < 0.05;

²Indicate significant difference comparing with the group indicated with an ¹only. Statistically significant differences were determined using analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s test. CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; HC: Hepatitis virus; ALB: Albumin; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; TSB: Total serum bilirubin; ALT: Alanine transaminase.

Table 5 Comparison of different parameters in chronic hepatitis C with and without autoantibodies (mean ± SD)

Parameters	CHC with autoantibodies	CHC without autoantibodies	P value
	M/F (9/9)	M/F (17/15)
Mean age (yr)	33 ± 16	34 ± 14.3	0.36 NS
Viral load (copy/mL)	8.3 × 105± 10.4 × 106	3 × 106± 19 × 105	0.52 NS
Duration of infection (mo)	21.3 ± 12.3	11 ± 7.3	0.0022
IgG (mg/dL)	2109 ± 462.4	1630 ± 323	0.0011
IgM (mg/dL)	190 ± 25	172 ± 45.3	0.3 NS
AP (U/L)	428 ± 91.5	221 ± 104	0.0011
AST (U/L)	52 ± 12.7	41 ± 9.81	0.0071
ALT (U/L)	36 ± 9.7	27 ± 7.2	0.0071
S. Albumin (g/dL)	3.8 ± 0.87	3.9 ± 0.72	0.47 NS
TSB (mg/dL)	1.5 ± 3.1	0.8 ± 0.58	0.0011

^1,2Indicate significant difference on the 0.01 and the 0.001 level respectively, NS indicates non-significance. Statistically significant differences were determined using analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s test. CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; TSB: Total serum bilirubin; ALT: Alanine transaminase.

Table 6 Autoantibody positive chronic hepatitis C and autoimmune hepatitis, comparison of different parameters (mean ± SD)

Parameters	Autoantibody positive CHC (n = 18)	Autoantibody positive AIH (n = 20)	P value
IgG (mg/dL)	2109 ± 249	2053 ± 710.5	0.42 NS
IgM (mg/dL)	190 ± 26.8	227 ± 63.1	0.0271
AP (U/L)	428 ± 37.9	373 ± 166.1	0.33 NS
AST (U/L)	52 ± 8.42	57 ± 18.64	0.42 NS
ALT (U/L)	36 ± 5.5	37 ± 15.6	0.81 NS
TSB (mg/dL)	1.5 ± 4.1	4.0 ± 7.0	0.00332
Albumin (g/L)	3.8 ± 0.78	3.3 ± 0.69	0.12 NS

^1,2Indicate significant difference on the 0.05 and the 0.01 level respectively, NS indicates non-significance. Statistically significant differences were determined using analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s test. CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; TSB: Total serum bilirubin; ALT: Alanine transaminase.

Table 7 Comparison between liver/kidney microsomal-1 positive patients in chronic hepatitis C and autoimmune hepatitis groups (mean ± SD)

Parameters	Groups		P value
	LKM-1+ in AIH	LKM-1+ in CHC
	M/F (0/9)	M/F (5/6)
Mean age (yr)	31 ± 10	35 ± 19	0.51 NS
IgG (mg/dL)	2205 ± 566.1	2522 ± 295.6	0.34 NS
IgM (mg/dL)	262 ± 41.21	185 ± 26.26	0.0011
AP (U/mL)	404 ± 146.7	472 ± 3	0.57 NS
AST (U/mL)	64 ± 12.71	57 ± 37.92	0.22 NS
ALT (U/mL)	41 ± 9.64	40 ± 5.41	0.45 NS
S. Albumin (g/dL)	3.4 ± 0.8	3.9 ± 0.9	0.5 NS
TSB (mg/dL)	3.4 ± 4.97	1.9 ± 3.90	0.06 NS

¹Indicates significant difference on the 0.01 level, NS indicates non-significance. Statistically significant differences were determined using analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s test. CHC: Chronic hepatitis C; AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; TSB: Total serum bilirubin; ALT: Alanine transaminase; LKM-1: Liver/kidney microsomal-1.