[Immunological diagnosis in non-viral liver diseases]

The demonstration of defined autoantibody specificities in autoimmune liver diseases allows the differentiation between chronic inflammatory processes affecting mainly the parenchyma (autoimmune chronic active hepatitis) or the bile ducts (primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis). Furthermore, overlap syndromes between the different autoimmune liver diseases as well as with other disorders including collagen disorders can be observed. The determination of antibody-profiles--especially in PBC--is helpful to evaluate the prognosis of the disease even in early stages.