The doctor will make a diagnosis based on symptoms, blood tests, and a liver biopsy.

• Blood Tests
  A routine blood test for liver enzymes can help reveal a pattern typical of hepatitis, but further tests, especially for autoantibodies, are needed to diagnose autoimmune hepatitis.Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system to fight off bacteria and viruses. Autoantibodies attack the body’s cells. In autoimmune hepatitis, the immune system makes one or more types of autoantibodies.

  The most common are antinuclear antibodies (ANA), smooth muscle antibodies (SMA), and antibodies to liver and kidney microsomes (anti-LKM). People with type 1 have ANA, SMA, or both, and people with type 2 have anti-LKM.

  Blood tests also help distinguish autoimmune hepatitis from other diseases that resemble it, such as viral hepatitis B or C or a metabolic disease such as Wilson disease.

• Liver Biopsy
  A tiny sample of liver tissue, examined with a microscope, can help doctors accurately diagnose autoimmune hepatitis and tell how serious it is. This procedure is done in a hospital or outpatient surgical facility.

For More Information Autoimmune Hepatitis

American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
1001 North Fairfax, Suite 400
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-299-9766
Fax: 703-299-9622
Email: aasld@aasld.org
Internet: www.aasld.org

American Liver Foundation
75 Maiden Lane, Suite 603
New York, NY 10038-4810
Phone: 1-800-GO-LIVER (465-4837), 1-888-4HEP-USA (443-7872), or 212-668-1000
Fax: 212-483-8179
Email: info@liverfoundation.org
Internet: www.liverfoundation.org

Source: digestive.niddk.nih.gov – April 2008