Clinical significance of autoantibodies directed against nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens in autoimmune liver disease.

Previous research carried out in the area of autoimmune liver disease and autoantibody specificity has not been conclusive, and correlation between the two in most situations remains unclear. This study aims to facilitate a consensus on these autoantibodies in an unselected patient population and their relationship to autoimmune liver disease (AILD). The study detected two autoantibodies that show reasonable specificity for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), anti-sp100 and anti-gp210, and it may be clinically useful to report any antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) detected, as this may be a sign of very early PBC. The inter-methodological differences in assays available for detection of the autoantibodies were also noted. Care must be taken when selecting methods to detect these autoantibodies.