AIH |
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic inflammatory liver disease including chronic active hepatitis (CAH), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and their overlap syndromes. AIH, being characterized by increase of autologous antibodies and serum level of globulin in the blood, is in the absence of a known etiology. At present, there are no approved drugs for treatment of the disease in the world. The current treatment mainly uses steroids and immunosuppressive agents to control the disease, but it cannot be cured. Patients must take long-term medication; under which condition, many side effects occur and seriously affect the quality of life of patients. In patients with AIH, at least about 10% of patients with disease control under current therapies would significantly increase the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Therefore, new therapeutic drugs or therapies are urgently needed.