Circulating immune complexes in the sera and ascites of hepatocellular carcinoma or chronic hepatitis patients

Circulating immune complexes (CIC) in the sera or ascites of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), chronic hepatitis patients and normal healthy persons were measured by polyethylene glycol (PEG) and C1q solid-phase microassay (C1q-SPMA). Both the PEG and C1q-SPMA methods showed the serum CIC levels of HCC patients were significantly higher than those of chronic hepatitis patients and of normal persons. The CIC levels of chronic hepatitis patients were also significantly higher than those of normal persons as detected by PEG method but not by C1q-SPMA. The ascites from HCC patients also had CIC. But the amount of CIC in ascites was significantly lower than those of the serum from the same HCC patients. These results suggest that the increase of CIC may play some pathological role in the HCC patients.