Autoantibodies to Tamm-Horsfall protein in acute and chronic hepatitis

The levels of antibodies of the IgG, IgA and IgM class against the Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (anti-THP) were determined in 108 patients with the following diagnoses: acute hepatitis A, acute hepatitis B, acute hepatitis non-A non-B, chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis non-A non-B and chronic autoimmune hepatitis. The mean levels of antibodies of the IgM class were higher in all types of hepatitis than in healthy controls, while the mean levels of anti-THP of the IgA and IgG class were increased in acute hepatitis B only. 13 of 20 patients (65%) with acute hepatitis B exhibited increased levels of anti-THP of the IgA class compared to 6-18% of the patients in the other categories. The increased levels of anti-THP of the IgA class could not be attributed to elevated serum IgA but instead were correlated with the levels of serum aminotransferase. The possible impact of this particular association of anti-THP with acute hepatitis B is discussed.