Wilson disease — the impact of hyperimmunity on disease activity: A case report

BACKGROUND: In Wilson disease lack of biliary copper excretion causes hepatocellular injury by accumulation of free toxic copper. Its overspill to serum accounts for neuronal damage as second common manifestation. Therapy with copper chelators or zinc targets the removal of this free copper. However, in some patients liver disease persists for unknown reason despite normalized free copper. The discovery of a hyperimmunity as a contributing pathogenetic factor was discovered in this case report with implication also for other liver diseases. CASE SUMMARY: A 9-year-old girl was diagnosed in August 2009 by family screening of having asymptomatic Wilson disease with elevated transaminases. Already at time of diagnosis antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were elevated without hyperimmunoglobulinemia (immunoglobulin G, IgG). After one year of therapy with D-penicillamine transaminases normalized together with free serum copper. Under continuous therapy with copper chelators free copper remained normal until today, whereas transaminases raised to alanine aminotransferase values of 571 U/L in December 2019. For hyperimmunity a tentative steroid course on top of D-penicillamine improved transaminases. Thus, hyperimmunity may have impact on liver inflammation after control of the metabolic disturbance. A retrospective cohort study confirmed the common association of elevated transaminases with ANA, but no IgG elevation. CONCLUSION: This hyperimmune-triggered condition may represent a new entity which per se or on top of other liver diseases induces liver inflammation responsive to steroids.