Permanent immunosuppression in SLA/LP-positive autoimmune hepatitis is required although overall response and survival are similar.

We showed that anti-SLA/LP antibodies do not characterize a group of AIH patients with distinct features and cannot identify patients with a more severe form of the disease or worse survival. Most importantly, however, anti-SLA/LP-positive patients appear to require lifelong immunosuppression as they are less likely to achieve the cessation of corticosteroids and present higher relapse rates after treatment withdrawal. Therefore, close long-term monitoring should be advised in all anti-SLA/LP-positive patients after withdrawal of immunosuppressive treatment.