ASSOCIATION OF ANTIBODIES TO OPISTHORCHIS-VIVERRINI WITH HEPATOBILIARY DISEASE IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND

The association between Opisthorchis viverrini infection and hepatobil iary disease was studied in northeastern Thailand. Positive rates of O . viverrini infection and antibody titers to O. viverrini adult worm e xtracts, which were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (E LISA), were compared among four groups: Thai patients with cholangioca rcinomas (CHCA), those with calculus cholecystitis (CCLT), endemic are a victims of traffic accidents, and Japanese individuals used as negat ive controls. While no difference was observed between cases with CCLT and the accident victims, the CHCA group showed a significantly highe r positivity rate for fluke infection and higher antibody titers than the other groups. Comparison of the positivity rates and ELISA titers among intrahepatic and extrahepatic CHCA subgroups showed that only fe males with intrahepatic tumors had a low positive rate and significant ly lower titers, with no other significant variation being evident. Fr om these observations, a strong association between high intensity of past and/or present O. viverrini infection and the genesis of CHCAs wa s apparent in the majority of cases. However, in addition to the fluke infection, other unknown exogenous or endogenous factor(s) were sugge sted in the female cases.