Effect of infectious hepatitis on the immunoglobulins in mentally retarded children.

In this study, the humoral immunologic status of 60 institutionalized children with infectious hepatitis was evaluated during the acute or icteric stage and followed one, four, and seven months after the sudden onset of the disease. The determination of the humoral immunologic status consisted of the following: (1) the study of serum protein distribution by acetate electrophoresis mobility; (2) quantitative evaluation of serum by immunochemical analysis for immunoglobulins (Ig), 1 IgA (7S γ1 , βA), IgM (19S γ1 , βM), and IgG (7S γ2 ); and (3) qualitative evaluation of serum IgG for virus neutralizing antibody response on 8 to 12 standard enteric viruses as well as viruses isolated from patients during the acute stage of hepatitis. These data are correlated for the 60 patients who had either clinical jaundice or an increase in serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) levels, or both. It was not surprising to find varying increases in immunoglobulin levels