Lymphocytotoxins in acute and chronic hepatitis. Characterization and relationship to changes in circulating T lymphocytes.

Serum lymphocytotoxicity (LCT) was detected in 49% of fifty-one patients with acute viral hepatitis and 72% of twenty-nine patients with chronic hepatitis. LCT was not detected in ten chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen. Characterization of LCT revealed it to be active at physiologic temperatures and to be reactive against both T and B lymphocytes. The occurrence of LCT was transient in acute hepatitis and intermittent in chronic hepatitis. There was a significant inverse relationship between the percentage change in LCT over time and peripheral blood T-cell proportions amongst the patients studied. These findings indicate the importance of liver damage in the appearance of LCT and suggest that LCT may contribute to depressed lymphocyte function in liver disease.