RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF IMMUNOPATHOLOGICAL EXPRESSION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-ANTIGEN AND HEPATOCYTIC INJURY

Biopsied liver tissues from 352 cases were tested for hepatitis C viru s (HCVAg) with improved PAP immunohistologic chemical method. Furtherm ore, corresponding seroantibody to hepatitis C virus was also tested. The total HCVAg positive rate was 9.1%. The HCVAg positive rate in chr onic persistent hepatitis (CPH) was 5%. The HCVAg positive rate in chr onic active hepatitis (CAH) was 11.2%. The HCVAg positive rate raised gradually along with the severity of hepatocytic injury. HCVAg may be seen in necrotic liver cells exfoliating into the liver sinus, indicat ing a close relationship between HCVAg and hepatocytic injury. Express ion of HCVAg was mostly of the nucleus type in CPH cases and was mostl y of the plasma type in CAH cases. The periphery of nucleus type-expre ssed positive cells generally had no marked inflammatory cell infiltra tion. The periphery of plasma type-expressed positive cells had a cert ain amount of inflammatory cell infiltration. Along with the severity of hepatocytic injury, HCVAg expressed itself in a positive correlatio n according to the nucleus and plasma types. The HCVAg positive cells were located mostly in the lobular peripheral band and rarely located in the venoperipheral band. It was possible that this had some relatio n with the lobular microcirculation of blood and blood supply. In this study, there was no obvious correlation between the HCVAg positive ra te in hepatic tissues and the anti-HCV positive rate in sera. Neither the patients with HCVAg positive liver tissues nor the patients with s eropositive anti-HCV had any history of blood transfusion and the use of blood products. This suggests that the characteristics of sporadic spread of HCV infection in some areas of China deserve our attention.