IgM Antibody to Hepatitis B Core Antigen as a Diagnostic Parameter of Acute Infection with Hepatitis B Virus

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 143; no. 6; pp. 803 - 809
• Main Authors: Lemon, Stanley M., Gates, Norman L., Simms, Thomas E., Bancroft, William H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The University of Chicago Press 01.06.1981; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Animals; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - biosynthesis; Antigens, Surface; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - immunology; Carrier State - immunology; Geometric mean; Hepatitis; Hepatitis A; Hepatitis A - immunology; Hepatitis antigens; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B - diagnosis; Hepatitis B Core Antigens - immunology; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - immunology; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis C - immunology; Immune Sera - pharmacology; Immunoglobulin M - biosynthesis; Infections; Medical Microbiology; Pan troglodytes; Radioimmunoassay; Viral hepatitis

Because many patients with acute hepatitis B lack detectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), a radioimmunoassay for IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) was developed and evaluated as a diagnostic test. IgM anti-HBc was detected in each of 47 patients with acute hepatitis and tra...