title: Liver membrane antibodies in chronic delta hepatitis.
abstract: The correlation between the presence of liver membrane antibodies (LMA) and delta superinfection in chronic hepatitis B was studied in 136 chronic hepatitis patients, 20 hepatitis B surface antigen asymptomatic carriers and 50 healthy controls, by testing for the presence of LMA, hepatitis B virus markers and anti-delta (anti-HD). Neither anti-HD nor LMA were detected in controls or in asymptomatic carriers. LMA positivity was statistically higher (p less than 0.001) in anti-HD-positive patients than in those with no anti-HD. Gamma globulin and glutamic pyruvic transaminase values were increased both in anti-HD- and LMA-positive patients with respect to those who were negative. In conclusion, a close association between the positivity to anti-HD and the presence of circulating LMA was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Torres
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Carreño
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bartolomé
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Porres
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bas
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Quiroga
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens