ウイルス性肝炎におけるHIM試験の臨床的意義

HIM test was performed on the 103 patients with liver diseases and 33 cases of the other diseases. The results obtained were as follows; 1. The titer of HIM antibody showed high percentage in the sera of the patients with viral hepatitis. The titer of HIM antibody in serum hepatitis tended to be higher than that of infectious hepatitis. 2. In acute viral hepatitis the titer of HIM antibody was usually elevated at the beginning of the diseases, then the titer decreased gradually when the time lapsed. None of the cases of viral hepatitis were observed, in whom the HIM test was negative at the beginning and it became positive in the course of the diseases. 3. The family of the patients with infectious hepatitis tended to show positive results in the test. 4. The suppressive effect on the producton of HIM antibody was not able to prove by the administration of immunosuppressive drugs such as corticosteroids, 6-MP and Imuran. 5. The positive results were observed in some cases of healthy population, leucemia, Hodgikin's disease and chronic nephritis. It was however, difficult to assume that the antibody observed in the sera of viral hepatitis is consistent with the antibody proved in the sera of the other diseases.