Segregation of autoantibody to cytoskeletal filaments, actin and intermediate filaments with two types of chronic active hepatitis.

Regional differences in serological features of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) were assessed from study of unselected patients with CAH, 53 from Zagreb, Yugoslavia and 53 from Melbourne, Australia. A group of 29 patients from Zagreb with chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) was also included. The serological marker studied was immunofluorescence reactivity to cytoskeletal components, actin cables (AC) and intermediate filaments (IF), these being mostly responsible for the smooth muscle antibody reactivity which occurs in CAH. The Zagreb cases of CAH differed from the Melbourne cases by having a significantly lower frequency of anti-AC (8% vs 55%) and a significantly higher frequency of anti-IF (34% vs 15%), and correspondingly had a higher frequency of markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (HBsAg, 53% vs 8% and anti-HBc, 72% vs 34%), and a differing HLA profile, with HLA BW35 higher (38% vs 14%) and B8 lower (18% vs 56%). This study illustrates the differences among populations in expression of CAH, in that HBsAg is held to specify the HBV-associated type, and antibody to actin is held to specify the autoimmune type. These differences would be determined in part by environmental influences, notably HBV, and genetic influences, notably HLA, and are reflected by the differing patterns of immunofluorescence reactivity with the cellular cytoskeleton.