Treatment for Autoimmune Hepatitis

How do doctors treat autoimmune hepatitis?

Doctors treat autoimmune hepatitis with medicines that suppress, or decrease the activity of, your immune system, reducing your immune system’s attack on your liver. The medicines doctors most often prescribe are corticosteroids —prednisone or prednisolone —with or without another medicine called azathioprine .

Doctors typically start with a relatively high dose of corticosteroids and then gradually lower the dose. Your doctor will try to find the lowest dose that works for you. Your doctor will use blood tests to find out how you are responding to the treatment. A decrease in levels of the liver enzymes alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) shows a response to treatment. ALT and AST falling to normal levels shows a full response. In some cases, a doctor may repeat a liver biopsy to confirm the response to treatment and find out whether the damage has resolved.