INTERFERON-GAMMA PRODUCTION IN WHOLE PERIPHERAL-BLOOD CULTURE IN ACUTE HEPATITIS-B

Interferon gamma (IFNg) production in whole peripheral blood (WPB) and mononuclear (MN) cell culture in acute hepatitis B (AHB) was compared . IFNg production was induced by phytogem agglutinin and measured in t he cell supernatants of 14 AHB patients in the course of the disease. There were some up-regulating factors of IFNg production that probably operated in WPB culture: the presence of autoerythrocytes as well as the low content of monocytes. Autoserum regulated IFNg production in a stage-dependent way: it decreased IFNg activity at the bilirubin peak in hepatitis B infection, but not in convalescence. In contrast, we d id not find a serum blocking effect in the corresponding stage of acut e hepatitis A. The nature of this serum blocking factor in AHB is uncl ear.