At a Glance Why Get Tested? To help diagnose autoimmune
hepatitis and distinguish it from other causes of liver injury
When to Get Tested? When a patient has hepatitis that the doctor
suspects may be due to an autoimmune-related process A blood
sample drawn from a vein in your arm Test Preparation Needed?
The Test Sample What is being tested? This test measures the
amount of smooth muscle antibodies (SMA) in the blood. SMAs are
proteins produced by the body’s immune system to work against
its own cytoskeletal proteins. The production of SMA is strongly
associated with chronic autoimmune hepatitis but may also be
seen in other forms of liver disease and with other autoimmune
disorders such as primary biliary cirrhosis. Autoimmune
hepatitis presents as an acute or chronic inflammation of the
liver that is not caused by another discernable cause (such as a
viral infection, drug, toxin, hereditary disorder or alcohol
abuse). It can lead to cirrhosis(liver damage and scarring) and,
in some cases, to liver failure.