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Early Diagnosis of Hepatitis B by Dane Particle Associated DNA Polymerase Assay

Department of Virology Institut Pasteur du Brabant

D. van Beers

Department of Microbiology Hôpital Universitaire Brugmann

M. Toppet and S. Cadranel

Department of Paediatrics Hôpital Universitaire St. Pierre, Brussels Belgium

We have studied prospectively 178 subjects exposed to hepatitis B and 120 haemodialysed patients for the presence of HB₈ antigen, e antigen and DNA polymerase as well as for anti-HB₈ and anti-HB_c antibodies. The results suggest that the DNA polymerase assay enables us to diagnose hepatitis B earlier than the radioimmunoassay for HB₈ and that DNA polymerase might be present in the blood in the absence of HB₈ in cases of confirmed hepatitis B. A positive correlation between e antigen and DNA polymerase was observed in 83% of the patients on haemodialysis who developed hepatitis B but only in 9% of normal patients developing the same disease.

Received 28 January 1977; accepted 8 March 1977.