Abstract

The diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) has been advanced by the criteria developed by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group (IAIHG) [1,2]. A critical component of these criteria is detection by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) of autoantibodies to components of the nuclei (anti-nuclear, ANA), smooth muscle (SMA) and liver kidney microsomes type 1 (anti-LKM-1). Detection not only assists in the diagnosis but also enables discrimination between two distinct subtypes of the disease [1,2], AIH-1 and AIH-2.