Among 256 patients with acute hepatitis A, 17 (6.6%) had a relapse of the disease between 30 and 90 days after the primary episode. We studied 7 of these patients. Serologic testing showed mean alanine aminotransferase levels of 1668 IU/L during the acute stage, 107 IU/L during the early convalescence, and 1027 IU/L during the relapse. Tests for IgM antibody against hepatitis A virus were positive in the 7 patients at the onset of disease, with decreasing levels in 3 of the 4 patients tested during the evolution of the illness. Stools collected during the relapse phase showed hepatitis A virus by immune electron microscopy, radioimmunoassay, and molecular hybridization using a 32P-labeled cDNA-hepatitis A virus probe. Stools collected from 4 of these patients 6 to 12 months after the onset of disease were negative for the virus. The finding of hepatitis A virus in the stool of these patients during the relapse phase strongly implicates hepatitis A virus as the causative agent of the clinical relapse.

Sexual behavior is a plausible explanatory factor of HBV sexual transmission among homosexual men. Further evidence is needed to elucidate the occurrence and the efficiency of HCV sexual transmission in the absence of other risk factors.

Serum samples (n: 110) from blood donors and high risk individuals from Cordoba, Argentina with indeterminate HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II Wb profiles were studied for specific antibodies to HTLV-I/II and HIV-1 by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and for the presence or absence of HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II specific bands by Wb. This study was carried out in order to characterize their putative reactions with HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II proteins and to resolve the retrovirus infection status of these individuals. Results indicated that blood donors sera displaying indeterminate HIV-1 or HTLV-I/II Wb patterns were not immunoreactive to HTLV-I/II and HIV-1 on IFA. However, a high rate of indeterminate HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II Wb samples from high risk individuals had positive HTLV-I/II and HIV-1 IFA results respectively. Our study supports the growing evidence that HTLV-HIV indeterminate seroreactivity in low risk population is due to a cross reaction against nonviral antigens, and in high risk populations the indeterminate samples show serological cross-recognition between HIV-1 proteins and HTLV-I/II proteins on Wb. These results point out the necessity to investigate the HTLV-I/II reactivity in indeterminate HIV-1 samples and vice versa in order to confirm the diagnosis. Finally, this study shows the potential usefulness of IFA in elucidating the status of HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II infection of individuals with indeterminate Wb profiles, thus enabling resolution of retrovirus infection status.

Serum pregnancy-associated alpha 2-glycoprotein (alpha 2-PAG) levels were evaluated in a follow-up study of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and compared with biochemical and virological parameters. In a study of 25 patients with acute hepatitis, an association was found between high alpha 2-PAG values, ALT levels, and HBsAg in 20 patients (80%) (P less than 0.05), 18 recovered completely, and 2 had a protracted course. In five patients serum alpha 2-PAG levels were similar to those in the control group. On the other hand, eight (100%) chronic persistent HBV patients showed high levels of alpha 2-PAG (P less than 0.05) during the study period, and these levels correlated well with inflammatory activity and failure of HBsAg elimination. There were no significant differences in alpha 2-PAG values between asymptomatic HBsAg carriers and controls. Serial analysis of alpha 2-PAG, in correlation with viral markers, biochemical parameters, and histological data, would contribute to the ability to predict the final outcome of HBV infection.