SUPPRESSOR CELL-ACTIVITY IN VIRAL AND NON-VIRAL CHRONIC ACTIVE HEPATITIS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (1) , 89-95
Abstract
Suppressor cell function was studied in 29 patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH) in relation to possible etiological causes and activity of liver disease. All 15 patients with evidence of viral etiology (10 HBsAg[hepatitis B surface antigen]-positive CAH and 5 non-A, non-B CAH) showed normal suppressor cell function independently of severity of liver damage. In contrast, 14 patients with HBsAg-negative CAH, including 4 cases with circulating antibodies to the hepatitis B virus, demonstrated a significant reduction in suppressor cell activity compared to control subjects. No significant difference was found in this group between cases with and without circulating autoantibodies. In 4 of 5 HbsAg-negative patients tested serially suppressor cell defect correlated with disease activity suggesting an abnormality in the regulation rather than a depletion of suppressor cells. Different mechanisms are apparently responsible for autoimmunity to the liver in virus and non-virus-related CAH.