Anti-Liver Arginase Autoantibody in Human Serum : A New Tool for Diagnosis of Silent Chronic Liver Disease

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Back ground/Aims : While there are a number of serum markers useful for the diagnosis of liver diseases, we meet some difficulty in diagnosing silent liver disorders such as chronic inactive hepatitis which does not show typical changes in releasing hepatic enzymes, symptomatic signs or deagnostic imaging. We have previously reported the induction of autoantibody to the liver arginase in animals by immunization with heterologous arginase and in human by allogeneic liver transplantation. The present study was initiated to utilize the anti-liver arginase autoantibody as a clinical marker in silent liver disorder. Methods : Western blot and ELISA were undertaken for the detection and quantification of the antiliver arginase autoantibody. In the ELISA system, rat liver arginase was used as a target antigen, taking advantage of its high immunological cross reactivity with human liver arginase and the ease of handling it provides. Results : ELISA for the anti-liver arginase autoantibody showed good reliability. Remarkable persistent increases in the anti-liver arginase autoantibody were found in chronic hepatitis and autoimmune hepatitis even in their inactive states. Conclusions : The anti-liver arginase autoantibody can be utilized as a clinical marker for diagnosing chronic inactive hepatitis.