Unusual viruslike particles in chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis in childhood

Liver biopsies from 16 children with clinical and pathologic evidence of chronic hepatitis have been examined by electron microscopy for cytoplasmic and nuclear changes. Parallel studies by radioimmunoassay on sera from the same patients support the diagnosis of all these cases as non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANB). Ultrathin sections of the liver biopsies demonstrated in one case intranuclear hepatitis B virus-like core particles, 25 nm diameter. In a second biopsy from the same patient, the corelike particles could still be observed. This finding could be used either to support the thesis that a NANB virus is a member of the hepadnavirus group or to reflect the existence of seronegative cases of chronic HBV infection. Furthermore, we have observed in some mononuclear cells from the inflammatory infiltrate of a portal tract, some structures that resemble virus budding. There is a striking similarity between the morphology of these particles (which are enveloped and possess projections) and the ultrastructure of retrovirus.