Improving the end point of corticosteroid therapy in type 1 autoimmune hepatitis to reduce the frequency of relapse

OBJECTIVE: Relapse of autoimmune hepatitis may reflect incomplete suppression of disease activity prior to corticosteroid withdrawal, and liver tissue examination prior to the termination of therapy may be insufficient to predict subsequent course. Our goal was to refine treatment end point criteria so as to reduce the frequency of relapse after drug withdrawal. METHODS: One hundred thirty-two patients with definite type 1 autoimmune hepatitis who fulfilled clinical, laboratory, and histological criteria for remission were evaluated. The degree of laboratory improvement at the termination of treatment was correlated with subsequent clinical course in patients who had improved to normal or near-normal histological findings during corticosteroid therapy. RESULTS: Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels at the end of treatment were higher in patients who subsequently relapsed than in those who sustained remission (32 +/- 2 U/L vs 25 +/- 2 U/L, P = 0.04). Serum gamma-globulin (1.4 +/- 0.1 g/dL vs 1.2 +/- 0.1 g/dL, P = 0.03) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) (1,416 +/- 55 mg/dL vs 1,079 +/- 57 mg/dL, P = 0.001) levels were also higher in these patients prior to termination of therapy. The frequencies of abnormal serum AST (40% vs 13%, P = 0.008), gamma-globulin (25% vs 3%, P = 0.009), and IgG levels (36% vs 4%, P = 0.001) at treatment withdrawal were also greater in the patients who subsequently relapsed. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who are treated to normal serum AST, gamma-globulin, and IgG levels have a lower frequency of relapse than others despite comparable histological findings.