Serum beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) and anti-beta 2m antibody in chronic hepatitis.

Serum beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) concentration is increased in pathological processes associated with lymphocyte activation. beta 2m and anti-beta 2m autoantibody (anti-beta 2m) determinations were made in the sera of 41 patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, respectively, in 19 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as well as in 27 healthy controls. A pathologically high beta 2m value was found in one-third of inactive persistent hepatitis, and in more than two-thirds of active hepatitis and postnecrotic cirrhosis cases. In SLE it occurred in 16 out of 19 cases. The beta 2m level was elevated mainly in HBV-negative and circulating immune complex-positive hepatic patients. Anti-beta 2m antibody occurred in one-third of chronic hepatitis, but only in one out of 13 cases in cirrhosis and in 12 out of nineteen patients with SLE. The results suggest that beta 2m and anti-beta 2m as in SLE may be further laboratory indicators of immunological activity in inflammatory hepatic disease.