Smooth muscle antibodies and cryoglobulinemia are associated with advanced liver fibrosis in Brazilian hepatitis C virus carriers

Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases

Luis Jesuino De Oliveira Andrade²  Paulo Roberto Santana De Melo¹  Ajax Mercês Atta¹  Maria Luiza Brito De Sousa Atta¹  Larissa Santana De Jesus¹  Gabriel Menezes De Sousa¹  Carolina Alves Costa Silva¹  Raymundo Paraná¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz Faculdade de MedicinaBahia ,Brazil

关键词: hepatitis C;    muscle;    smooth;    antibody specificity;    cryoglobulins;    liver diseases;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1413-86702011000100012

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Cryoglobulinemia and non-organ-specific-autoantibody are biomarkers of autoimmunity of the chronic infection caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). In this work, we report the association between the presence of smooth muscle antibodies (SMA) and cryoglobulinemia and chronic liver disease in HCV carriers. Sixty-five untreated HCV patients, 38 women and 27 men were included in this study. Cryoglobulinemia was tested by cryoprecipitation, SMA by indirect fluorescent antibody test, and liver fibrosis and hepatocellular inflammation activity was investigated by histology of liver biopsy using the METAVIR score. The prevalence of SMA in the patients was 33.8% and cryoglobulinemia was demonstrated in 36.9% patients. Cryoglobulinemia and SMA seropositivity was associated with advanced fibrosis (p < 0.05). The presence of SMA and cryoglobulinemia was not associated with hepatocellular inflammation activity, age, carrier gender or HCV genotype. We concluded that liver biopsy should be recommended for HCV carriers that are seropositive for SMA or cryoglobulinemia.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License