What Causes Autoimmune Hepatitis?

An autoimmune disease is when the immune system starts attacking healthy cells. Autoimmune hepatitis occurs when the body attacks its own liver.

As with most autoimmune disease, we do not understand what causes autoimmune hepatitis, but we suspect there may be a genetic component. We do know that autoimmune disease mostly affects women. Often, people suffering from autoimmune hepatitis also have a family history of other autoimmune diseases, including:

• Type 1 diabetes
• Ulcerative colitis (inflammation of the large intestine)
• Thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland)
• Vitiligo (loss of skin pigmentation, usually in blotches or patches)
• Sjogren's syndrome (dry eyes and dry mouth)
• Lupus

Autoimmune Hepatitis and Hypergammaglobinemia

We do know that there is a link between autoimmune hepatitis and a disorder called hypergammaglobulinemia.

Hypergammaglobinemia is a disorder where there are too many circulating protein antibodies in the blood. A chronic infection or certain malignant blood diseases may cause hypergammaglobinemia.