Anti-Smooth Muscle Antibody / Auto-Immune Hepatitis - Positive Test

[rawdeal]

So I did a little more digging, wanted to ask, do you have any arthritis? Knowing your white cell count is low. I believe you said that in a previous post. I’m more inclined to think, you might have a genetic predisposition that puts you vs someone else at a higher risk for autoimmune hepatitis . . . .

Maybe I missed something here, but how do arthritis and autoimmune hepatitis possibly relate to each other?

That is not a challenge ... it's something I don't know but want to understand.

@Pig Vomit , when you asked people to chime in, I bet you were more after information than opinions, but I have one of the latter: THIS is a great thread, thanks to you and a host of interested/interesting replies.

 

[Pig Vomit]

@rawdeal The more people in this game are aware of the importance of blood tests and understanding what some of this stuff means the better. I had my blood done fairly regularly and had a *fair* (not even decent, I'd say) grasp of what was going on, but as long as nothing was alarming ignorance was bliss. Now that a lot of us are getting up in age and we want to have a good quality of life, it's important to get this stuff checked. So much for my younger motto of "have fun, die young, leave a good looking corpse". It becomes very real when discussions about cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis and concerns about kidney disease are had with your doctor. I'm an open book about stuff these days, and if thread helps me learn from others and others learn from me and this thread, all the better.

I think the question about arthritis had mostly to do with my persistently low / low normal white count, which started me down the whole blood test road.

 

[rawdeal]

. . . . I think the question about arthritis had mostly to do with my persistently low / low normal white count, which started me down the whole blood test road . . . .

Yup, I noticed Jack's "starting point," just wasn't sure about the correlation among arthritis, WBCs, and AIH.
My learning will continue as your thread does

 

[JackD]

Yes, that answered my questions. I still have a few for the liver specialists I'm seeing over the next weeks, not the least of which is what the results of the elastography really mean. I've talked to a liver specialist PA, who keeps telling me everything is normal and to avoid alcohol and to eat a healthy diet (which means no real changes). After I see the PA again I see the liver doc (used to see a liver specialist MD, she transferred, LONG wait for replacement doc so I've been seeing PA). I'm going to press them HARD on what all this means, because I'm really not clear on the whole question of the elastography results meaning of F0-1. I messaged the office about the flip-flop on the anti-smooth muscle antibody, and all I got was a reply from an assistant saying everything was normal and didn't answer my main question about the meaning of the flip-flop. The positive test can also mean mononucleosis, but I tested negative for that as well. I'm on a first name basis with the phlebotomist, people are gonna start talking.

I do nothing for my liver other than take some Coq-Enzyme 10. And a single cup of coffee everyday, because it is necessary even when it's 105 at 9AM. Is this the "Liver Care" you speak of? https://www.amazon.com/Himalaya-LiverCare-Cleanse-Capsules-Supply/dp/B000H87TIG

I'm going to stay the clean course for now and I'm sure they're going to want repeat anti-smooth muscle antibody blood tests (hello again, hot phlebotomist!). I'll post back after my upcoming appointments and will re-assess at that time.

In the meantime....if anyone else wants to chime in....please do.

Yes, that is the liver care product I’ve been using since 2010. Really good product. You’ll read a lot of testimony about people saying it reverses liver damage.

Keep us updated on everything! I’m jumping off to let others jump in! LOL.. I’ve talked a lot today!!

 

[JackD]

Maybe I missed something here, but how do arthritis and autoimmune hepatitis possibly relate to each other?

That is not a challenge ... it's something I don't know but want to understand.

@Pig Vomit , when you asked people to chime in, I bet you were more after information than opinions, but I have one of the latter: THIS is a great thread, thanks to you and a host of interested/interesting replies.

Essentially, If you have any autoimmune disorders even borderline, it just means you can develop more.

a lot of arthritis is actually autoimmune related.

 

[Glycomann]

What is the false positive rate of your Anti-Smooth Muscle Antibody test?

 

[Pig Vomit]

@Glycomann I have read this, having a hard time interpreting it. This is probably more up your alley.

All I really get out of it is "moderate sensitivity and high specificity". And this: "Our review shows that the diagnostic accuracies of SMA and anti-SLA/LP for AIH were extraordinarily high, as the DOR was 31.553 for SMA and 16.867 for anti-SLA/LP. With a DOR value of 7.380, ANA had a slightly inferior diagnostic accuracy, which was mainly due to the excessive heterogeneity in ANA. Furthermore, the results of our review confirm that using these autoantibodies in the diagnosis of AIH has drawbacks, since they are also present in other liver diseases such as PBC, PSC, drug-induced liver injury, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic viral hepatitis B or C [45]–[73]."

The study is from 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3961308/

 

[Glycomann]

@Glycomann I have read this, having a hard time interpreting it. This is probably more up your alley.

All I really get out of it is "moderate sensitivity and high specificity". And this: "Our review shows that the diagnostic accuracies of SMA and anti-SLA/LP for AIH were extraordinarily high, as the DOR was 31.553 for SMA and 16.867 for anti-SLA/LP. With a DOR value of 7.380, ANA had a slightly inferior diagnostic accuracy, which was mainly due to the excessive heterogeneity in ANA. Furthermore, the results of our review confirm that using these autoantibodies in the diagnosis of AIH has drawbacks, since they are also present in other liver diseases such as PBC, PSC, drug-induced liver injury, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic viral hepatitis B or C [45]–[73]."

The study is from 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3961308/

I scanned the paper. It is a meta analysis. The positive and negative likelihood ratios, and DOR are calulations from software that I am not familiar with. I went to the reference and cannot download it. So, I can't interpret very well other than 10 for the former and 0.1 for the later are considered good ratios. DOR I have no idea how to interpret. In that regard the test is moderately accurate. However, the ROC curve for your paricular test is poor. For a very good true positive rate the ROC curve looks like an upside down hockey stick. Your test has a poor fit. The vaccine is associated with many strange autoimmune type affects. my guess is that some are meaningless anomalies that might probably will resolve over time while some are more severe. Whether or not your result is vaccine related or not.. really really hard to tell. With just one positive test result that has a poor ROC curve where no other tests are ringing warning bells, I don't really see huge concern but if it were me I would do follow-up testing. If you've already done that and given the all clear then probably you are in the clear. I really don't see a reason to take a booster. These vaccines do not appear to be very effective and have a high rate of adverse effects. Your choice though of course.

 

[Thrawn]

I was researching solubility tables and came across this, granted it if for test P but you can put any drug you want. Scroll down to interactions in this example there are over 800 potential drug interactions. Most related to my prescriptions were decrease in excretion(waste) increasing serum levels(more waste for the body to get rid of) may be worth a look, it also list OTC supplements.

Testosterone propionate: Uses, Interactions, Mechanism of Action | DrugBank Online

Testosterone propionate is a slow-release anabolic steroid no longer used commonly for the treatment of androgen deficiency or promotion of anabolic effects on muscles.

go.drugbank.com

 

[Glycomann]

I scanned the paper. It is a meta analysis. The positive and negative likelihood ratios, and DOR are calulations from software that I am not familiar with. I went to the reference and cannot download it. So, I can't interpret very well other than 10 for the former and 0.1 for the later are considered good ratios. DOR I have no idea how to interpret. In that regard the test is moderately accurate. However, the ROC curve for your paricular test is poor. For a very good true positive rate the ROC curve looks like an upside down hockey stick. Your test has a poor fit. The vaccine is associated with many strange autoimmune type affects. my guess is that some are meaningless anomalies that might probably will resolve over time while some are more severe. Whether or not your result is vaccine related or not.. really really hard to tell. With just one positive test result that has a poor ROC curve where no other tests are ringing warning bells, I don't really see huge concern but if it were me I would do follow-up testing. If you've already done that and given the all clear then probably you are in the clear. I really don't see a reason to take a booster. These vaccines do not appear to be very effective and have a high rate of adverse effects. Your choice though of course.

I scanned the paper. It is a meta analysis. The positive and negative likelihood ratios, and DOR are calulations from software that I am not familiar with. I went to the reference and cannot download it. So, I can't interpret very well other than 10 for the former and 0.1 for the later are considered good ratios. DOR I have no idea how to interpret. In that regard the test is moderately accurate. However, the ROC curve for your paricular test is poor. For a very good true positive rate the ROC curve looks like an upside down hockey stick. Your test has a poor fit. The vaccine is associated with many strange autoimmune type affects. my guess is that some are meaningless anomalies that might probably will resolve over time while some are more severe. Whether or not your result is vaccine related or not.. really really hard to tell. With just one positive test result that has a poor ROC curve where no other tests are ringing warning bells, I don't really see huge concern but if it were me I would do follow-up testing. If you've already done that and given the all clear then probably you are in the clear. I really don't see a reason to take a booster. These vaccines do not appear to be very effective and have a high rate of adverse effects. Your choice though of course.

OK Vomit, I see this was unappreciated. I won't bother again.

 

[Pig Vomit]

OK Vomit, I see this was unappreciated. I won't bother again.

It was TOTALLY appreciated. Had a minor surgery, haven't logged in for a few days. I really do appreciate your input on this. Honestly, of all the people I wanted to comment on this, you were at the top of my list. No disrespect intended.

 

[Glycomann]

I've been on edge PV. My apologies.