[Detection of autoantibodies to polymerized human serum albumin]

Binding activity of antibodies against polymerized human serum albumin (pHSA) was measured in the serum of 348 patients with various hepatic and non-hepatic diseases and in the serum of 108 control persons. The methods used were passive hemagglutination (PH) with antigen loaded human erythrocytes and radial immunodiffusion (ID). In the PH-method only HBsAg-positive sera reacted. Blocking experiments with pHSA, polymerized bovine serum albumin (pBSA) and monomeric human serum albumin (mHSA) showed, that the PH-method measures HBsAG associated receptors for pHSA. In HBeAG-positive cases titers were significantly higher than in anti-HBe-positive sera. Using the ID-method it could be shown, that 40% of sera of patients with liver diseases (n = 272), 37% of patients with LED (n = 27), 72% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 32), 6% of patients with glomerulonephritis (n = 17) and 2% of normal persons (n = 108) reacted. These sera reacted in the immunodiffusion assay with pHSA and pBSA but not with mHSA. Autoantibodies against non species specific determinants of pHSA which are not specific for liver diseases and possibly due to disturbed immunoregulation can be demonstrated by immunodiffusion. They may possibly be modulators of the pHSA mediated binding of hepatitis B-virus to hepatocytes.