Reaction spectrum of HBe antibodies.

Significant differences concerning the in vitro reaction spectrum were found between two groups of 30 anti-HBe samples, one from apparently healthy HBsAg carriers, the other from HBsAg-positive acute viral hepatitis (AVH) patients : the mean number of positive reactions per anti-HBe sample was of 7.00 +/- 2.25 in the former and of 3.60 +/- 1.42 in the latter group. The broader reaction spectrum of anti-HBe from apparently healthy subjects (overall positivity percentage--54%, as against 26% in AVH patients) suggests some explanations regarding the different evolution modalities of hepatitis B virus infection in terms of the organism's capacity to develop a specific response.