Presence of Serum Antinuclear Antibodies Does Not Impact Long-Term Outcomes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

We investigated the longitudinal impact of antinuclear antibody (ANA) on clinical outcomes and survival in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).METHODS:ANA were found in 16.9% of 923 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients, but none of them had histologic autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) or developed AIH after a mean follow-up of 106±50 months.RESULTS:Although ANA-positive cases had a higher prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis at baseline, the occurrence of liver-related events, hepatocellula carcinoma, cardiovascular events, extrahepatic malignancy, and overall survival were similar to ANA-negative.DISCUSSION:Once AIH has been ruled out, the long-Term outcomes and survival are unaffected by the presence of ANA in patients with NAFLD.