RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between hepatic fibrosis and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in the patients with schistosomiasis. METHODS: Totally 145 schistosomiasis patients confirmed by Jingzhou First People's Hospital during the period of February 2014 to June 2016 were randomly selected as an experimental group, and 100 healthy people during the same period were randomly selected as a control group. The serum samples of the two groups were collected and the level of ANCA was detected by indirect immunofluorescence, and the levels of hyaluronic acid, laminin, procollagen type III, and collagen type IV were detected by radioimmunoassay. The levels of the above indexes of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The positive rate of ANCA was 28.96% (42/145) in the experimental group and 1.00% (1/100) in the healthy control group, and the difference between them was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The levels of hyaluronic acid, laminin, procollagen type III and collagen type IV in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05), and the proportions of those with abnormal levels of hyaluronic acid, laminin, procollagen type III and collagen type IV in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). In the experimental group, among the 42 patients with ANCA positives, the proportions of those with abnormal levels of hyaluronic acid and laminin were significantly higher than the proportions of those with ANCA negatives, and in the former, the levels of the four indicators of liver fibrosis were all higher than the normal values, and the average levels of hyaluronic acid and laminin in the patients with ANCA positives were significantly higher than those in the patients with ANCA negatives (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The patients with schistosomiasis hepatic fibrosis could be positive for the autoimmune antibody ANCA, and ANCA may be associated with the autoimmune process of liver fibrosis.
