Detection of core antibody in hepatitis B infection.

Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) is found on the decoated Dane particle and on a morphologically similar particle detected mainly in the nucleus of hepatocytes of patients with hepatitis B. HBcAg prepared from the liver of a chimpanzee infected with hepatitis B virus was used to test human serum for core antibody (anti-HBc) by complement fixation. Anti-HBc was found in serum collected from patients with hepatitis B in both the acute and convalescent stages, from carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and from patients with chronic liver or renal disease who were carriers of HBsAg. It was not found in patients with hepatitis A or infectious mononucleosis, or in healthy persons who were not carriers of HBsAg.