PBC BLOOD TESTS - HELP

[Yotimes]

My wife recently had her blood tests. 3 years ago she was AMA positive. Since then it’s shown as negative again in the last 2 years. This weeks test is a little confusing as it shows the following as negative

Anti nuclear factor

Anti mitochondrial antib titre

Anti smooth muscle auto antibod

However it shows HEP 2 (UBH) (BH) HEP 2000 type mitochondrial as positive.

We are confused and don’t have a GP appointment for 3 weeks so are looking for some guidance. Is this the AMA M2 that is now positive ?

Luckily her liver function and fibroscan are great but it would be nice to know.

[Candy12]

I can’t answer your question on the blood test it’s not one I recognise, but I see no one has replied yet. It’s rather quieter on here at weekend so hopefully someone will chime in. If your worried you could contact the PBC foundation advisors they may be able to help. They host this page and you can find the link in the pinned post by Robert at the side of the page.

[mrspeffer]

I just did some googling research on your question. Seems like the Hep2000 test is a sensitive substrate for AMA. Typed in the question of Hep2000 vs. AMA test and all sorts of articles appeared. Hope this helps some. Be well

[JoanCR]

Hello, I can't answer your question as to the two blood tests since I don't remember having those, but my hepatologist told me that once an AMA test is positive, there's no need to test it again. She said it may go back and forth between positive and negative over time but it's still considered positive if it once was.

[VeeWat in reply to JoanCR]

Didn’t know it could jump around like that. 👀

[HealthyChik]

Sorry you're not having much luck getting info and I'm probably not any help either, but I've had those 2 test. I went to a rheumatologist after I was diagnosed with PBC to check for overlap autoimmune diseases and those 2 tests were a part of a huge battery of various antibody tests. From my understanding, the HEp-2 is a standard test for ANAs, not AMAs. Seems to be an overall indication that a positive could indicate "some kind" of autoimmune condition. I was also positive (1:5120 with a centromere pattern). There are various patterns that could possibly indicate different autoimmune diseases. The centromere pattern is associated with PBC, but also other autoimmune diseases. I'm sorry I don't remember what the HEp-2000 was for since I was negative on that one. I tested positive for a few other antibodies but not enough for a conclusive diagnoses of another AI disease.