e System and intrahepatocelullar HBcAG and HBsAG in HBsAG positive patients with liver diseases and healthy carriers.

Patients with hepatitis-B surface antigen positive liver diseases and healthy carriers were studied for the presence of e-antigen and anti-e as well as for intrahepatocellular HBsAG and hepatitis-B core antigen. The e-antigen was demonstrated in 9 out of 12 patients with chronic perisitent hepatitis, in 15 out of 39 patients with chronic active hepatitis, in 3 out of 40 patients with acute type B hepatitis, and in 2 out of 9 patients with a protracted course of type B hepatitis. No e-antigen was found in healthy HBsAG carriers nor in patients with complete recovery from type B hepatitis one year after onset of the disease. Anti-e was detected in 24 out of 61 healthy HBsAG carriers with a normal liver histology and in one patient with a mild form of a chronic persistent hepatitis. The presence of e-antigen in serum was highly associated with the presence of HBcAG in the nuclei of the liver cells. Twenty-seven out of 29 e-positive patients had HBcAG in the liver cell nuclei. In contrast, none of 20 patients with anti-e in serum had HBcAG in the liver cells.