Concentration of serum immunoglobulins in acute and chronic hepatic diseases. II. Viral hepatitis; time-dependent changes in immunoglobulin concentration.

Immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrations were determined on blood samples drawn of 6 occasions over a 2-month period from 38 young patients with viral hepatitis. The main and joint effects of sex and day factors on mean Ig levels were studied by using a 2-way ANOVA model. No distinct pattern of variation was observed for IgA, IgG and IgD, whereas the mean values of IgM showed a statistically significant variation throughout the study period. Female patients had significantly higher mean Ig values than males; for each Ig-class, however, the day-to-day variation was very similar in the two sexes, as reflected by an unsignificant sex-day interaction. The results suggest that serial measurements of IgM levels can be useful for identifying those patients at risk of developing chronic hepatitis and for an early detection of viral hepatitis in persons at very high risk of contracting this disease.