Absence of autoimmune serological reactions in chronic non A, non B viral hepatitis

In 18 cases of chronic liver disease due to non-A, non-B hepatitis virus(es) in which the diagnosis was established by transmission, including chimpanzee inoculation in nine, sera were tested for the autoantibodies characteristically associated with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis. The frequency of autoantibodies to nuclear, smooth muscle, cytofilament, mitochondrial and liver membrane antigens was low, being not greater than that recorded for a normal population, and the few positive reactions obtained were at very low titre. These findings suggest that among cases of 'HBsAg negative' chronic hepatitis, those due to NANB infection are distinguishable from those due to autoimmune chronic hepatitis by negative serological tests for autoantibodies.