Precipitating antimitochondrial antibodies in Japanese patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

The prevalence of three precipitating antibodies to mitochondria A (M-A), mitochondria B (M-B), and mitochondria C (M-C), reacting with the antigens in the mitochondrial fraction of sonicated rat liver was studied in Japanese patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and other liver diseases. Antibodies to M-A and M-B were found in 12 of 22 (54%) and 11 of 22 (50%) patients, respectively. Antibodies to M-C were found in only one of 22 (4%) patients. The titers of antibodies to M-A and M-B correlated with the titers of mitochondrial immunofluorescence staining on unfixed mouse kidney section (r = 0.71 and 0.81, respectively). These antibodies were not present in liver cirrhosis (20 patients), chronic active hepatitis (20), acute viral hepatitis (10), and hepatoma (10). However, the titers of these antibodies did not correlate with amount of immunoglobulin, immune complexes, and the severity of disease. This work confirms that the antibodies to M-A and M-B are also marker antibodies for Japanese patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.