Antihistone Autoantibodies in Dobermans With Hepatitis

Immune system involvement is suggested as an underlying cause for Doberman hepatitis (DH) based on female predisposition, lymphocyte infiltration, abnormal hepatocyte expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens, and homozygosity for dog leukocyte antigen DRB1*00601.

To measure serum antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and serum antihistone antibodies (AHA) in Dobermans with hepatitis. To determine whether increased serum ANA or serum AHA could be used to support the diagnosis of Doberman hepatitis (DH).

Privately owned 25 subclinically and 13 clinically affected DH Dobermans and 17 healthy control Dobermans.

Case-control study. Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) microscopy and line blot tests were employed for the ANA pilot studies and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay for detection of IgG AHA.

Indirect immunofluorescence revealed ANA-positive cases, and line blot showed AHA reactivity. In ELISA, importantly increased concentrations of AHA were found in 92% (23/25) of dogs in the subclinical stage and 84.6% (11 of 13) of dogs in the clinical stage of DH compared with no control dogs (0/17) (P < 0.0005). The mean AHA absorbance values of the blood samples obtained from the 25 subclinical DH dogs (1.36 ± 0.60, mean ± SD) and the 13 clinically affected dogs (1.46 ± 0.49) were significantly higher than in 17 control dogs (0.51 ± 0.18; P < 0.0001).

As the presence of AHA indicates autoimmune activity, our results favor an autoimmune background as one cause for DH. Antihistone antibody could represent a novel means for screening Dobermans with increased serum alanine transaminase concentrations and suspicion of DH.