Autoimmune Pancreatitis


Autoim­mune pan­cre­ati­tis (AIP) is a rare autoim­mune dis­or­der where the body’s immune sys­tem attacks the pan­creas with chron­ic inflam­ma­tion. There are two types of AIP, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 affects mul­ti­ple organs includ­ing the pan­creas, bile ducts in the liv­er, sali­vary glands, kid­neys, and lymph nodes. Type 2 usu­al­ly just affects the pan­creas but can also be asso­ci­at­ed with inflam­ma­to­ry bow­el dis­ease. Some of the symp­toms include jaun­dice, pain in the upper abdomen and back, nau­sea, vom­it­ing, dark urine, pale stools, and unex­plained weight loss. There is no known cause for AIP.