[Antiperinuclear and antikeratin antibodies in liver diseases]

Antiperinuclear factor (APF) was detected in 7 out of 38 patients with autoimmune liver disease (AILD) and in 7 out of 83 patients with non-autoimmune liver disease (NAILD). Anti-keratin antibodies were found in 2 out of 18 patients with AILD and in 3 out of 32 patients with NAILD. Neither APF nor antikeratin antibody was significantly more frequent in AILD than in NAILD. The incidence of APF was shown to be greater (p less than 0.02) in patients with rheumatoid factor (RF) and/or antinuclear antibody. This supports the hypothesis that APF is connected with RF rather than with rheumatoid arthritis, although the presence of APF is evidence towards the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.