INCREASED IGM CLASS CIRCULATING IMMUNE-COMPLEXES IN ACUTE HEPATITIS-AVIRUS-INFECTION

For assessing the role of circulating immune complexes (CIC) in acute hepatitis A, IgM- and IgG-specific CIC were determined, by C1q and con glutinin (K) assays, in 205 patients with acute hepatitis A and 60 hea lthy controls. The concentration of each type of CIC in patients was h igher than healthy controls (P = 0.0001). CIC was a common feature of acute hepatitis A with 95.6% of cases having at least one abnormal tes t result. The prevalence of abnormal IgM class CIC was significantly h igher than IgG class CIC. There were significantly inverse correlation s between levels of IgM class CIC and interval between onset of sympto ms and patient presentation. The prevalence of abnormal IgM CIC was hi gher in patients with higher alanine aminotransferase (P = 0.001) and patients with jaundice (P = 0.0002). In conclusion, IgM class CIC is t he predominant CIC in acute hepatitis A and correlated with disease ac tivity. CIC may play a role in the pathogenesis of acute hepatitis A. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.