Humoral and cell-mediated immunity to hepatitis B virus antigens in acute and chronic liver disease.

The humoral immune response to hepatitis B virus antigens and the cell-mediated immunity to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were investigated in 12 healthy persons and 56 patients with various liver diseases. In patients with acute viral hepatitis type B, anti-hepatitis B core antigen was present constantly in serum in all phases, and after clinical recovery simultaneously with anti-HBs. A transitory cellular immune response to HBsAg was demonstrated at the time the antigen was cleared, while a patient with persisting HBs antigenaemia and another with transient hepatitis Bc antigen showed no response during the course of the disease. Cellular immune response to HBsAg was present only infrequently in patients with chronic liver disease type B and non-B, thus suggesting that a cellular immunity to HBsAg is not a prerequisite for the development of these conditions.

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