Since the hepatitis B virus is noncytopathic, it is generally believed that the individual
specific immune response determines the course of infection. The lack of data about
hepatitis B virus-specific T-cell reactions in acute infection led us to investigate the specific
cellular immune response of infected individuals in terms of proliferation, and γ-interferon
and lymphotoxin production. Our results demonstrate that peripheral blood mononuclear
cells (PBMNC) from patients with acute and chronic hepatitis B respond weakly to HBsAg. In …