High prevalence of antinuclear antibodies in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Abstract

Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious public health concern due to its high prevalence and mortality rate. In chronic infection, HCV may induce autoimmune responses through the production of autoantibodies, including antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Methods We assessed the presence of ANA by indirect immunofluorescence using HEp-2 cells in 89 patients with chronic hepatitis C. We also collected data on epidemiological variables; clinical characteristics; and biochemical, hematological, molecular, and histopathological information from the patients to assess the impact of the presence of ANA in those patients. Results The prevalence of ANA in the patients was 20.2%, which was significantly higher than that found in healthy controls (2%). However, there was no association of this marker with epidemiological, clinical-laboratory, molecular or histopathological characteristics of hepatitis C, although a slightly higher prevalence of ANA was detected in women and in patients infected with subgenotype 1a. In a specific analysis, chronic HCV patients with the “rods and rings” cytoplasmic pattern had higher degrees of hepatic fibrosis than did ANA-negative patients. Conclusions The results confirm a greater predisposition to the presence of ANA in patients with HCV, which may be associated with a worse prognosis, especially in the presence of the “rods and rings” cytoplasmic pattern.

Clinical value of chemiluminescence method for detection of antinuclear antibody profiles

“…This approach is a qualitative assay that has a predetermined set of detection items and can only perform batch detection. Consequently, its effectiveness in identifying the ANA spectrum is constrained[ 18 ]. However, in recent years, with the development of immunological detection technology, fully automated chemiluminescence detection technique has been extensively adopted in the detection of clinical samples because of its associated advantages such as those of automation, quantification, random loading, and wide linear range of detection[ 19 , 20 ].…”

Chronic Viral Hepatitis in Children: Socio-Economic Implications in Romania

“…Because of the infection, 60-70% of patients with HCV will develop liver fibrosis and steatosis, up to 20% will develop liver cirrhosis, and up to 5% will develop hepatocellular carcinoma [7]. Antinuclear antibodies, an essential marker of autoimmune hepatitis, included in the scoring systems for this disease, have been reported to have a higher incidence in patients with chronic HCV infection and show a worse prognosis [12,13]. It is estimated that about 350000 deaths occur annually, and 950000 individuals are permanently disabled secondary to chronic HCV infection [10,14].…”