Autoimmune Hepatitis

Descriptive text is not available for this imageBASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic, inflammatory liver disease characterized by autoantibodies, hypergammaglobulinemia, and evidence of liver inflammation.
  • Without treatment, AIH is a progressive hepatopathy that may eventually lead to end-stage liver disease, requiring liver transplantation.

EPIDEMIOLOGY

  • AIH can affect all ages within all ethnic groups.
  • More common in women in both adults and children
  • Prevalence of 3 to 10 per 100,000 persons
  • Bimodal distribution with peaks in childhood/adolescence and around 40 years of age

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

  • AIH is a multifactorial disease with genetic, epigenetic, environmental, and immune components.
  • AIH may be associated with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS-1) with an autosomal recessive mutation on chromosome 21q22.3.

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.