Autoimmune hepatitis: Diagnosis and treatment guide in japan, 2013

摘要

INTRODUCTION: AUTOIMMUNE HEPATITIS (AIH) is an idiopathic inflammatory liver disease that occurs predominantly in middle-aged and elderly women. Genetic susceptibility and autoimmune pathogenesis are reportedly associated with both disease onset and progression.The clinical characteristics of the disease include the presence of auto antibodies, particularly antinuclear antibody (ANA) or anti-smooth muscle antibody (ASMA), and hypergammaglobulinemia. AIH presents as either acute or chronic hepatitis: some patients are diagnosed based on the occasional detection of laboratory abnormalities in liver enzymes (elevation of aspar-tate aminotransferase [AST] or alanine aminotransferase [ALT]) in the absence of symptoms. However, the acute hepatitis phase of AIH occasionally lacks these characteristic features. In addition, AIH patients are at risk of progressing to acute hepatic failure.