Non-organ-specific autoantibodies in chronic hepatitis C patients: Association with histological activity and fibrosis

Background: Non-organ-specific autoantibodies (NOSAs) are frequently found in the sera of patients with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection. However, no conclusive answers have been produced concerning the clinical relevance of these antibodies. Aim: To determine whether a relationship might exist between the presence of NOSA and the severity of liver disease in chronic hepatitis C. Methods: 186 treatment-naive chronic hepatitis C patients were studied consecutively for autoantibodies. Liver biopsies were analyzed according to the Metavir score. Results: NOSAs were present in 75 patients (40%). Anti-nuclear antibodies were found in 32% of patients (speckled pattern), anti-smooth muscle in 15% without F-actin specificity, anti-mitochondria in 0.5%, and anti-LKM1 in 0.5%, respectively. No liver-cytosol1 or soluble liver antigen antibodies were detected. There was a highly significant correlation between the positivity of NOSA and the degree of inflammation and hepatocellular injury (p = 0.001) and also with the degree of fibrosis (p < 0.0001). The presence of NOSA was associated with higher aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase, gamma-globulin and immunoglobulin G levels. By contrast, no differences were observed regarding age, gender, route of infection, duration of disease, HCV genotypes or viral load. Conclusion: NOSAs were associated with the most severe forms of chronic HCV infections. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.