Identification of target antigen for SLA/LP autoantibodies in autoimmune hepatitis.

Summary Background Autoantibodies are a hallmark of autoimmune hepatitis, but most are not disease specific. Autoantibodies to soluble liver antigen (SLA) and to liver and pancreas antigen (LP) have been described as disease specific, occurring in about 30% of all patients with autoimmune hepatitis, but no standardised assays are available. Methods We tested 2000 serum samples from patients with various liver diseases and controls for SLA autoantibodies by inhibition ELISA. Serum samples positive for SLA antibodies were used for immunoscreening of cDNA expression libraries. Identified clones were tested against a panel of serum samples positive for SLA and LP autoantibodies and control seru…