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Question answered:04/03/08
We found no management guidelines.
LabTestsOnline has a section on antimitochondrial antibody [1], this reports:
“When significant amounts of AMA or AMA-M2 are present in the blood, the most likely cause is primary biliary cirrhosis. Small concentrations of AMA may also be present in patients with chronic active hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, liver or bile obstruction, and with infections such as syphilis or acute infectious hepatitis. It may also be present in patients with other autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and thyroiditis. The AMA test is not used to diagnose these other conditions, but its presence does indicate some degree of autoimmune activity.”
GP Notebook has a chapter on antimitochondrial antibodies [2], this states:
“There are several different types of mitochondrial antibodies.
M2 anti-mitochondrial antibodies are found in 90-95% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). A titre of greater than 50 IU/ml suggests PBC even in the absence of symptoms and in the presence of normal alkaline phosphatase.
Clinical associations of the subtypes of mitochondrial antibodies include:
M1 syphilis
M2 primary biliary cirrhosis & pseudosyphilis
M3 primary biliary cirrhosis
M5 undefined collagen disease
M6 isoniazid induced hepatitis”
References
1) http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ama/glance.html
2) http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-181075923
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