Affiliation:
1. Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplant Queensland Children's Hospital Brisbane Queensland Australia
2. Department of Community and Family Medicine All India Institute of Medical Sciences Jodhpur India
3. Department of Paediatrics Division of Paediatric Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh India
4. Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences Lucknow India
Abstract
AbstractSignificance of autoantibodies in pediatric metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is unknown. Our aim was to determine the prevalence and significance of autoantibodies in MASLD. PubMed and Scopus were searched and six articles (689 [487 males] MASLD patients) were identified. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) was positive in 28% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 17%–39%, n = 6 studies), antismooth muscle antibodies (ASMA) in 28% (95% CI: 8%–50%, n = 5 studies), actin‐positive in 15% (95% CI: 10%–20%, n = 2 studies) and elevated immunoglobulin G in 17% (95% CI: 1%–39%, n = 4 studies). Anti‐liver‐kidney‐microsomal antibody was not present in any patient. There was no significant association of ANA positivity with degree of liver steatosis, liver fibrosis or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score (NAS) but patients with ASMA positivity had advanced fibrosis (pooled risk ratio [RR] 1.77; 95% CI 1.16–2.71) and higher risk of NAS ≥5 (pooled RR 1.21; 95% CI: 1.01–1.44, n = 2 studies, 243 patients). To conclude, non‐organ specific autoantibodies are present in over one‐fourth of children with MASLD and the presence of ASMA maybe associated with increased disease severity.