Frequency of autoimmune hepatitis and elevation of liver function tests in celiac disease

Celiac disease (CD) is a disease with heterogeneous pathogenesis which becomes more frequent and early diagnosis because of increased awareness. Elevation in concomitant liver function tests (LFT) is a known feature of celiac disease. There are studies indicating that high levels of liver function tests may be high enough to cover 40% of these patients. Although the pathophysiology of these patients has not been explained, it has been reported that after gluten-free diet, it spontaneously returns to normal, but a significant number of patients may have autoimmune hepatitis (AHD) due to genetic predisposing factors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the high liver function test and the frequency of autoimmune hepatitis in CD. In our study, the data of all patients aged 18 years or older who were admitted to the Gastroenterology Outpatient Clinic of Fırat University Hospital between December 2010 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Laboratory records of the patients were examined and the patients were retrospectively questioned for the presence of hepatic function test and autoimmune hepatitis. Patients with elevated liver function tests at the time of diagnosis were questioned for gluten-free diet (GFD). Significant decreases were observed in four percent of the patients after GFD, which was found to be 'celiac hepatitis' or 'cryptogenic hypertransaminasemia'. Autoimmune hepatitis was detected in 1% of the patients when the LFT was not regressed despite the gluten-free diet. As a result; LFT is an important finding in CD. It should be noted that this elevation may be due to the association of autoimmune hepatitis even though it is secondary to celiac hepatitis. Key words: Celiac disease, cryptogenic hypertransaminasemia, autoimmune hepatitis