RESUMO
Objective To study the roles of apoptosis genes bcl 2, bax, and bak in the pathogenesis of hepatitis D. Methods Expressions of HDAg, bcl 2, bax, and bak in liver specimens of 77 patients with hepatitis D were studied by immunohistochemical method. Meanwhile, the relationship of HDAg expression with the expressions of bcl 2, bax, and bak was studied by double labelling. Results Bcl 2 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes, and bax and bak mainly in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes and partly in the nucleus of hepatocytes, and HDAg mainly in the nucleus of hepatocytes. Lots of HDAg and bax/bak positive cells were distributed in infiltrating lymphocytes at the periportal region especially at the advancing edges of areas of piecemeal necrosis. Apoptosis of many hepatocytes was found to locate near the HDAg positive cells. There was positive correlation between the expression of bax/bak and HDAg expression ( P