Abstract:

Objective To investigate the characteristics of anti-nuclear antibodies and its clinical implication in patients with hepatitis B virus infection. Methods 569 patients with hepatitis B virus infection including 214 with chronic hepatitis B, 283 with liver cirrhosis and 72 with hepatocellular carcinoma were recruited. 30 healthy volunteers were as control. Indirect immune fluorescent assay(IIF) was used to detect the serum anti-nuclear antibody(ANA), anti-mitochondrial antibody(AMA), anti-smooth muscle antibody(SMA) and anti-liver special protein(LSP). Western blot was used to detect ANA profile. Results 1) 245 of the 569 patients with Hepatitis B virus infection(43%) were ANA positive, 90/214(42.1%) in CHB group, 108/283(38.2%) in LC group, 47/72(65.3%) in HCC group. HCC had a significantly higher percentage of ANA than CHB, LC and healthy volunteers(6.7%). 2) Among the 3 groups, low titer (1:100) of anti-nuclear antibodies was more common. Although a rage of fluorescent patterns was observed, the percentage of granular fluorescence was highest in the 3 groups. The percentage of anti-nucleolar antibody in HCC group(19.1%) was higher than CHB(4.4%) and LC(18.5%) (P<0.01). 3) ANA profile was detected in 45 patients with titer of ANA ≥1:320. dsDNA was positive in 2 patients with LC , and SSA in 1 patients with LC. 4)In terms of the serum levels of ALT, AST and virus load there were no significant differences between titer of ANA 1:100 and 1:320 in each group. Conclusion Anti-nuclear antibodies(ANA) were main auto-antibody in patients with hepatitis B virus infection, especially in patients with HCC. The titer of ANA had no significant implication with liver damage.

Key words: auto-antibody, anti-nuclear antibodies, chronic hepatitis B, hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), immune fluorescent patterns