Evidence against recessive inheritance of susceptibility to the chronic carrier state for hepatitis B antigen

THE discovery of Australia antigen (Au), now designated hepatitis B antigen (HBAg), and its association with type B viral hepatitis stimulated application of a variety of serological assays for the detection of HBAg and anti-HBAg in pretransfusion screening of donors' blood and epidemiological...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1974-03, Vol.248 (5444), p.159-160
Main Author: VYAS, GIRISH N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antibodies, Viral - analysis
Carrier State - immunology
Child, Preschool
Female
Genes, Recessive
Hepatitis A - genetics
Hepatitis A - immunology
Hepatitis B Antigens - analysis
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
letter
Male
multidisciplinary
Pedigree
Radioimmunoassay
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:THE discovery of Australia antigen (Au), now designated hepatitis B antigen (HBAg), and its association with type B viral hepatitis stimulated application of a variety of serological assays for the detection of HBAg and anti-HBAg in pretransfusion screening of donors' blood and epidemiological work relating to transmission of hepatitis 1–6 . The reasons for chronic prevalence of HBAg in apparently healthy carriers, who form an epidemiological reservoir of hepatitis B virus (HBV), remain ill-defined. Based on family studies with HBAg, Blumberg et al proposed a hypothesis that the persistence of HBAg for long periods is evidence of a genetic susceptibility which is inherited as a simple recessive trait 7,8 . The extensive family data, however, included no pedigree with progeny of two parents positive for the antigen. Such a family is crucial to lend validity to the genetical hypothesis. An independent study in Italy supported the hypothesis with certain qualifications 9 .
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/248159a0