Immunological studies on drug-induced allergic hepatitis.

In many cases of drug-induced allergic hepatitis, peripheral lymphocytes were transformed by the stimulation with a given drug in the presence of autologous serum. However, when rat liver microsome fraction of soluble liver specific antigen fraction was added to the culture instead of autologous serum, the drug-induced lymphocyte transformation was more efficiently seen than autologus serum, while rat liver mitochondria fraction was less effective. On the other hand, in the cases of allergic drug eruption which did not show any liver injury, the addition of liver subcellular fractions were much less effective to induce the lymphocyte transformation than autologous serum. These results may suggest that liver subcellular component is involved in pathogenesis of drug-induced allergic hepatitis.