title: Immunoglobulin- and hepatitis B surface antigen-specific circulating immune complexes in chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
abstract: For assessing the role of circulating immune complexes (CIC) in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, CICs containing IgM, IgG, and HBsAg were determined by C1q and conglutinin (K) assays in 216 patients with chronic HBV infection and 54 healthy controls. The concentration of each type of CIC in patients is higher than in controls (P = 0.0001). CIC is a common feature of chronic HBV infection with 95.8% of cases having at least one abnormal test result. At least one type of HBsAg-CIC is positive in 54.2% of patients. HBsAg-CIC positivity is associated with HBeAg positivity (P = 0.0001), higher aminotransferase levels (P < 0.002), and younger age (P = 0.001). IgG-CIC or IgM-HBsAg-CIC correlates with higher aminotransferase activity (P = 0.001). In conclusion, HBsAg-CIC correlates with HBV replication. IgG-CIC and/or IgM-HBsAg-CIC correlate with disease activity. Immune-mediated injury may play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic HBV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Jeng
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000097:blood*; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase