Background — Alcoholic hepatic disease is a severe and frequent disease and its diagnosis is not always an easy task. Aim — To assess the contribution of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the hepatic sinusoids for diagnosis of alcoholic hepatopathy. Patients and method — The presence of IgA was studied through direct immunofluorescence in 59 patients submitted to hepatic needle biopsy, indicated by clinical or in vitro changes suggestive of chronic hepatopathy. Results — A significant deposition of IgA was found in alcoholic patients as compared to non-alcoholic patients, with 76% sensitivity (95%CI: 54.5-89.8) and 73.5% specificity (95%CI: 55.3-86.5). In individuals who present only alcohol as the etiological agent of hepatopathy, compared with the subgroup of B or C virus carriers, the results were even more significant, with 85.7% sensitivity (95%CI: 56.2-97.5) and 89.5% specificity (95%CI: 65.5-98.2). Conclusion — The deposition of IgA in the hepatic sinusoids presents sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of an alcohol-induced hepatic lesion. This resource can be particularly useful when conventional histology can not be define a specific cause for the change found.
Alcoholic liver disease; IGA; Alcoholic liver disease; Biopsy
