δ Agent Infection in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases and Hepatocellular Carcinoma-An Infrequent Finding in Taiwan

✍ Scribed by Ding-Shinn Chen; Ming-Yang Lai; Juei-Low Sung

• Book ID: 102235923
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 260 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840040324

✦ Synopsis

Taiwanese have a high prevalence of HBsAg carrier rate and chronic liver diseases. To evaluate the role of delta (6) agent infection in our patients, 46 HBsAg-positive patients with chronic active hepatitis, 4 with chronic persistent hepatitis and 11 with HBsAg-positive hepatocellular carcinoma were studied for 6 antibody by radioimmunoassay of serum; liver was studied for 6 antigen by immunofluorescence in 23 patients. 6 Antibody was only found in three patients with chronic active hepatitis (6.7%); the prevalence was 6% in HBsAg-positive chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. None of the liver specimens studied had 6 antigen. The study indicates that 6 agent infection does not seem to play an important role in chronic liver diseases and hepatocarcinoma in Chinese who live in Taiwan, despite a high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

In 1977, a new antigen-antibody system [named delta