Antibodies to hepatitis B virus x-protein in sera of patients with acute and chronic active hepatitis.

Sera of patients with acute (AH) and chronic active hepatitis (CAH) were tested for anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) x-protein (HBx) by immunoblotting, using recombinant MS2- and βgal-HBx fusion proteins as substrate. Antibodies against HBx were detected in 5 out of 17 patients with AH at an early stage of infection, and in 13 out of 35 patients with CAH. Positive sera from AH patients showed a relatively weak anti-HBx reactivity when compared to sera from CAH patients. In follow up studies we tested serial serum samples from patients positive for anti-HBx. Patients with AH were observed for 3 to 6 weeks and CAH patients for up to 51 months. In general anti-HBx reactivities appeared to be stable although significant differences in apparent antibody levels were noted when sera from individual patients were compared. Our data further support an early expression of HBx-antigen in HBV-infected individuals. There was no correlation between HBe-antigen and anti-HBx in CAH.