Hepatitis B surface antigenaemia in Kenyans with chronic liver disease.
Fifty Kenyan patients with chronic liver disease or hepatocellular carcinoma were tested for hepatitis B surface antigenaemia by radioimmunoassay. The hepatitis B surface antigen was detected in 77% of the patients with chronic persistent or chronic aggressive hepatitis, or cirrhosis confirmed by liver biopsy, compared with 15% in a control group. All six patients with hepatocellular carcinoma had detectable hepatitis B surface antigen or antibody. 50% of the controls had hepatitis B surface antibody in their plasma detectable by haemagglutination. Auto-immune associated liver disease appeared infrequent. The possibility that the hepatitis B virus is an important cause of cirrhosis in Kenya is discussed.
D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000382:microbiology*; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000382:microbiology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male
D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens