Organ-specificity and clinical significance of antibody to insoluble liver cell mebrane antigen (anti-LM) in sera from patients with chronic active liver diseases

Abstract

The specificity of insoluble liver cell membarne antigen (LMAg) different from liver specific lipoprotein (LSP), was investigated by immunodiffusion using 2% polyethylene glycol (PEG-ID), immunofluorescence technique and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum anti-LM against acetone-fixed rat liver was detected in 9 of 13 patients with anti-HBs-positive chronic liver diseases (CLD) and 10 of 25 healthy persons with positive anti-HBs by immunofluorescence technique. Results of ELISA indicated that sera of 21 patients with lupoid hepatitis from Intractable Liver Diseases Committee, the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Japan and 25 patients with HBsAg-negative CLD had high levels of anti-LM. In immunohistological demonstrations of LMAg and LSP, the anti-LM prepared from an anti-HBs-positive patient with chronic active hepatitis bound to each of the human and rat acetone-fixed liver cell membranes, but not bind to any of human and rat kidney tissues. The absorbed rabbit anti-rat LM also bound to liver cell membranes, but the absorbed anti-rat LSP lacked organ-specificity to acetone-fixed liver tissues. Results of PEG-ID indicated that the absorbed rabbit antirat LM had precipitated to two organ-specific components of rat liver homogenate, and one of the two was identified as the one of the absorbed anti-LSP.In conclusion, it is indicated that the appearance of serum anti-LM is associated with a host immune response against the surface antigen components on hepatitis B virus (HBV).