Immune complex levels and HBs-antigenaemia in healthy Nigerians and patients with liver diseases.

Circulating immune complexes (CIC) were precipitated and assayed in the blood of 19 adult patients with liver diseases and 39 healthy adult Nigerians. The presence of hepatitis-Bs antigen (HBs-Ag) was also investigated in both the sera and CIC of both study groups. CIC levels were not significantly different in the three different liver diseases studied (acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis). Higher mean CIC levels which were not correlated with the presence of HBs-Ag, were found in the blood of patients, as compared to blood donors. While HBs- Ag was detected in 42.1% of patient's sera, only 12.8% of blood donor sera had detectable antigen. However, 42.1% of CIC from patients had the antigen, while 53.8% of CIC from blood donors also contained the antigen. It is suggested that the high frequency of HBs-Ag in the precipitated CIC of healthy subjects could account for the occurrence of some post-transfusion hepatitis-B infections.