[The treatment of different forms of B and delta hepatitis with interferon preparations]. / Lechenie razlichnykh form B- i del'ta-gepatitov preparatami interferona.

A study was made of the therapeutic efficacy of human leukocytic interferon (HLI) and leikinferon in the treatment of HBV- and HDV-infection. 21 patients were placed under observation. Of these, 6 presented with lingering hepatitis B (HB), 8 with chronic HB, 1 was a HBsAg carrier, 4 had Grades I-IV, acute hepatic encephalopathy, and 2 acute hepatitis delta. 15 patients received leikinferon, 6 were given HLI for injections. Indications and schemes for the treatment with interferon preparations are provided as are the clinico-biochemical and serological criteria for estimating the efficacy of interferon therapy. In lingering and chronic forms of HB, leikinferon exerts a beneficial effect. It is not costly, thus enabling one to carry out continuous treatment in patients suffering from chronic forms. HLI may be recommended as an effective agent.

[Highly sensitive methods for the serological,diagnosis of hepatitis B and their clinico-epidemiological significance]. / Vysokochuvstvitel'nye metody serologicheskoi diagnostiki gepatita B i ikh kliniko-épidemiologicheskoe znachenie.

A study was made of HB-virus infection markers in 438 patients of different age with hepatitis B. Highly sensitive methods based on the test systems manufactured in this country and abroad were employed. The authors established the diagnostic importance of HBV markers, studied the prevalence of those markers in parents of the diseased children of the first year of life, demonstrated the clinico-epidemiological importance of highly sensitive methods of serological diagnosis.

[An assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of gene-engineered human alpha 2-interferon in patients with acute viral hepatitis B]. / Otsenka terapevticheskoi éffektivnosti genno-inzhenernogo chelovecheskogo al'fa 2-interferona u bol'nykh ostrym virusnym gepatitom B.

The clinical trials of alpha 2-interferon (alpha 2-IF) (reaferon) in 412 patients with acute viral hepatitis B (AVHB) permitted the establishment of the optimal therapeutic dose and the schedule for the drug use. The drug tolerance appeared satisfactory on the whole. alpha 2-IF was found to have a beneficial effect on the clinical course of VHB. The relationship was established between the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug and the clinical variants of the disease as well as the time of drug administration. The highest clinical effect (in 86.3%) was attained as a result of early (before the 7th day of jaundice) use of alpha 2-IF in patients with the acute-cyclic pattern of VHB. That effect consisted in the reduction of the treatment period (by 6-8 days), in a 2-fold reduction of the incidence of HBs-antigenemia, in rapid stimulation of the IF system, and in the initially low activity of natural killers. If the drug was administered later, the positive clinical effect was detectable only in 61% of the patients. In cholestatic VHB, alpha 2-IF did not produce any therapeutic effect.

[Delta infection in hepatitis B]. / Del'ta-infektsiia pri gepatite B.

The detectability of delta-infection among patients with HB virus infections and their effects on the course of hepatitis B are discussed. Anti-delta were detected in 25.2% of 111 patients with HB virus infections. The course of the disease was more severe in cases of combined infection, and delta-superinfection was associated with the clinical picture of CAH, suggesting that combined B + delta infection may be producing a profound liver damage.

[Clinical significance of the markers of HB viral infection in hepatitis B in patients of various age groups]. / Klinicheskoe znachenie markerov HB-virusnoi infektsii pri gepatite B u bol'nykh raznykh vozrastnykh grupp.

The paper is concerned with some data on the detection of markers of HBV infection (HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc of IgM class) in 277 HB patients of different age groups using highly sensitive methods based on Soviet assays. A clinical course of HB in patients of different age groups was correlated with the regularities of the detection of markers of HBV infection. The diagnostic and prognostic importance of HBV antigens and antibodies to them was shown in patients of different age groups.

[Interferon preparations in the treatment of acute and chronic forms of hepatitis B]. / Preparaty interferona v lechenii ostrykh i khronicheskikh form gepatita B.

The therapeutic efficacy of human leucocytic alpha-interferon and combiferon produced in the N.F. Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was assessed in 27 patients with different types of hepatitis B and in 30 controls. A marked clinical effect was noted in therapy of acute types of hepatitis B: the improvement of clinical and immunological indices, the reduction of the duration of HBs-antigenemia. The treatment of chronic types was effective in 5 out of 8 patients. A therapeutic scheme for acute and chronic types of hepatitis B was given.

[Immunologic aspects of acute viral hepatitis at different ages]. / Immunologicheskie aspekty ostrykh virusnykh gepatitov u bol'nykh razlichnogo vozrasta.

Patients of different age, among them 103 with viral hepatitis B and 120 with viral hepatitis A, were examined for immunoregulatory subpopulations of T lymphocytes and for the effects of HBsAg preparations and human liver-specific lipoprotein (LSL) on the blood E-RFC content. The patients of both mature and elderly age with viral hepatis A demonstrated insignificant, readily reversible alterations in cellular immunity. The patients with viral hepatitis B, particularly elderly ones, showed an evident tendency toward the predominance of the suppressor effects, which correlated with the disease gravity. During incubation of lymphocytes with HBsAg, the stimulating effect was mostly revealed. However, in elderly patients experiencing the stage of late convalescence, there was an increase in HBsAg-specific suppression depending on the disease gravity. The suppressive action of LSL was only recorded in single cases.