e-Antigen and anti-e in two categories of chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen.

Screening for e antigen and anti-e was performed in 517 HBs antigen chronic carriers, 329 blood donors and 188 hemodialyzed patients. e antigen was detected in 35 blood donors (10.6 percent): 88 percent had a high titre of HBsAg, and 80 percent had a distrubed liver function. No difference was noted regarding sex and age of the carrier. Anti-e was detected in 33.7 percent of the bood donors. A significant difference (p less than 0.01) was noted between males (29 percent) and females (46.6 percent). Anti-e was found more prevalent in young people between 21 and 34 than in older people (p less than 0.05). Anti-e was rarely found when the titre of HBsAg was low or high. 88 percent of the anti-e carriers had an intermediate titre from 1/1 to 1/32 by CEP. Both e Ag and anti-e were more prevalent in ad subtype than in ay subtype (p less than 0.02 for both). Inside the ad subtype, anti-e is less frequent in adr (6 percent) than in adw2 (42 percent) and in adw4 (57 percent); p less than 0.01. The difference between the prevalence of e Ag in adr (31 percent) and in adw2 (17 percent) is not significant but the healthy carriers with e antigen are more numerous in adr than in adw2 subtype. e antigen was detected in 53.7 percent of HBs Ag-hemodialyzed patients and anti-e in 3.7 percent of these patients. These results are neither correlated with the liver function nor with the state of chronic carrier (27 percent of e Ag in transient HBs Ag carrier).