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BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) antibodies (ASCA) are frequently reported in autoimmune diseases but rarely in viral infections. We aimed to determine the frequency of ASCA in adult patients with CHC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-eight patients with CHC and 160 healthy blood donors were included in this study. ASCA-IgG and IgA levels were determined using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. For statistical analysis, we used open EPI version 3 as software. Correlations were determined by Spearman's test using IBM® SPSS® Statistics. RESULTS: ASCA (IgG or IgA) were present in 31.8 % of patients and in 3.7 % of controls (p < 10-6). ASCA-IgG and ASCA-IgA were more frequent in patients with CHC than in healthy subjects (23.9 % vs. 3.1 %; p < 10-5 and 9.1 % vs. 0.6 %; p = 0.002, respectively). In patients, mean levels of ASCA-IgG and IgA were significantly higher than in controls (9.95 ± 11.78 U/mL vs. 2.28 ± 2.86 U/mL, p < 10-6 and 5.96 ± 7.69 U/mL vs. 0.56 ± 0.12 U/mL, p < 10-6; respectively). In patients with CHC, the mean level of ASCA-IgG was significantly higher than that of ASCA-IgA (9.95 ± 11.78 U/mL vs. 5.96 ± 7.69 U/mL, p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: The frequency of ASCA was significantly higher in patients with CHC than in healthy controls.
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BACKGROUND: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disease that is frequently associated with other autoimmune conditions. OBJECTIVE: To perform serological screening for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with HT. METHODS: Our study included 88 consecutive serum specimens of patients with confirmed HT and 88 sex- and age-matched healthy subjects. All study participants were tested for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibodies (CCP-Ab) and rheumatoid factor (RF). CCP-Ab and RF were performed using ELISA commercial kits. Statistical analysis was conducted using Epi Info, version 3. RESULTS: Out of 88 patients with HT, 15 (17.0%) had CCP-Ab or RF. The frequency of serological markers of RA was significantly higher in patients than in control individuals (17.0% vs 4.5%; P = .007). RF was more frequent in patients than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (13.6% vs 3.4%; P = .01). Isolated RF-IgM was absent in all controls and present in 6 patients with HT (6.8% vs 0%; P = .02). Out of 14 male patients, 3 (21.4%) had antibodies of RA. There was no significant difference in age between patients with CCP-Ab or RF and those without. CONCLUSION: A high frequency of serological markers of RA was highlighted in patients with HT.
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OBJECTIVE: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease of liver that may be associated with other conditions, including autoimmune thyroid diseases. We aimed to investigate the frequency of anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab), antithyroglobulin antibodies (TG-Ab), and anti-thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TSHR-Ab) in Tunisian patients with PBC. METHODS: Sera of 80 patients with PBC were collected over a 9-year period. A total of 189 healthy blood donors (HBD) were included in the control group. Measurements of TPO-Ab and TG-Ab were performed using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Competitive ELISA was used to assess TSHR-Ab. RESULTS: Antithyroid antibodies (ATA) were significantly more frequent in PBC patients than in the control group (13.7% vs 1.6%; P < 10-3). Out of 11 patients with ATA, 10 (90.9%) were female. Nine patients and 2 HBD had TPO-Ab (11.2% vs 1%; P < 10-3). TG-Ab were more frequent in patients than in healthy subjects but the difference was not statistically significant (6.2% vs 1.6%; P = .1). TPO-Ab and TG-Ab were present together in 3 patients (3.7%). TSHR-Ab were absent in patients and controls. CONCLUSION: This study shows that PBC is associated with a high frequency of ATA but not TG-Ab or TSHR-Ab.