ACUTE HEPATITIS CAUSED BY ALVERINE ASSOCIATED WITH ANTI-LAMIN-A AND ANTI-LAMIN-C AUTOANTIBODIES

We report the case of a 67-year-old woman in whom onset and regression of acute hepatitis were closely related to the time of administration and withdrawal of the smooth muscle relaxant alverine. Antinuclear an tibodies were positive, and their titer followed the course of hepatit is. They presented a smooth rim-like nuclear immunofluorescence staini ng pattern. Immunoblot assay showed that they were directed against la min A and lamin C. This suggests that alverine should be added to the list of drugs known to produce acute hepatitis, and that drug-induced liver injury is a possible cause of antinuclear antibodies specific fo r lamin A and lamin C.