Autoantibodies to asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) measured by a novel ELISA–revival of a disease-activity marker in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH)

Aims: Aim of the study was to develop a novel solid-phase immunoassay for the detection of anti-ASGPR IgG demonstrated to correlate with disease activity in AIH. However, due to the fragility of this liver-specific autoantigen, no standardised immunoassay has been available until now. Methods: ASGPR was purified by affinity chromatography on galactose-Sepharose from rabbit liver and used for standardised detection by a novel ELISA. Anti-ASGPR IgG was measured in sera from 45 patients with AIH (untreated n=30, treated n=15), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) (n=43), alcoholic liver disease (ALD) (n=13), hepatitis B…