Autoimmune Hepatitis causes an elevated IgG. I found the following information on line:
Autoimmune Hepatitis: Diagnosis
Indications for Testing
Persistently elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) 5x normal in the absence of any other cause of liver disease or damage
Criteria for Diagnosis
Diagnosis of exclusion – need to rule out other etiologies of liver disease, including toxins, infections, and hereditary diseases
Serum IgG >2.5 g/dL
Autoantibodies may include the following
Antinuclear antibodies (ANA)
Anti-smooth muscle antibody (SMA)
Anti-liver/kidney microsomal type 1 (LKM-1) antibody
Antimitochondrial antibody (AMA)
Anti-soluble liver antigen (SLA) antibody
Autoantibodies may not be present in 10-30% of patients with clinical features of AIH
Histology to evaluate liver inflammation and fibrosis
Laboratory Testing
Liver function tests – usually elevated
Hepatitis panel – rule out acute or chronic hepatitis
Immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG) – elevated
Nonspecific antibodies – positive ANA homogenous pattern, rheumatoid factor
Specific antibodies
Anti-LKM-1 antibodies
React uniformly with cytochrome P450 2D6 – a 50kDA protein found in the cytoplasm of all hepatocytes and renal proximal tubular cells
In the U.S., LKM-1 antibodies are common in pediatric patients and rare in adults
More commonly associated with AIH type 2
LKM-1 antibodies occur in only 4% of adults with AIH
Anti-SMA (F-actin)
Presence of SMA antibodies – hallmark of AIH type 1
Also seen in chronic hepatitis
Testing anti-LKM-1 positive patients for ANA and SMA may be helpful in distinguishing between AIH types 1 and 2
Anti-SLA antibodies
Presence of SLA antibodies – almost 100% specificity for AIH; however, only 12-30% of patients have these antibodies
http://www.arupconsult.com/Topics/AIH.html
Hope this helps.
This is the hepatitis C forum. You should post your question on the Autoimmune hepatitis forum.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Hepatitis-Autoimmune/show/224