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We present the humoral immunological findings in 18 patients with ulcerative colitis and two with Crohn's disease. All of them had the disease for 3 months to five years. Fifteen were hispanics and five from European origin. There were ten males and ten females, and an average age of 38 years. All patients had active disease from clinical and endoscopy points of view. Thirteen patients had abnormal values in one of the immunoglobulins and normal in seven patients. IgA was increased in eleven, normal in seven and decreased in two. IgG increased in two, decreased in one and normal in seventeen cases. IgM was found to be increased in five and normal in the rest. IgA secretory determination in saliva, was performed twelve patients and was positive in all of them. Antinuclear antibodies were negative in eight. Anti-smooth muscle were positive in three of fifteen. Anti-mitochondrial were present in one and negative in thirteen. Values of C3 and C4 were lower than normal in 3 and 2 cases respectively from 4 cases studied. CH50 was decreased in 2 of 11 cases studied. In the patients, no correlation was found between low complement values, the positivity of auto antibodies and the clinical parameters previously mentioned. We conclude that there is quantitative alterations of the humoral response and it is necessary the immunological study in persons with inflammatory bowel disease others studies are needed to establish the real value of these findings.

Twenty children with chronic Hepatitis B virus infection where treated with alfa interferon 2b and compared with a group of 24 non treated patients with similar age and sex distribution. Both treated and untreated patients, all Hepatitis B surface antigen positive for a minimum of 6 months, were divided in 2 groups according to HBeAg status: positive and negative. The treatment was ambulatory at a dose of 5.000.000 U per square meter of body surface, administered 3 times a week during 16 weeks. Tolerance of the drug was good with secondary reactions only at the beginning of the treatment. The only change in laboratory tests was the normalization of aminotransferases in HBeAg positive children. There was no significant difference between the treated and untreated group of HBeAg positive patients regarding the rate of HBeAg seroconversion. There was a striking difference in negativization of HBsAg in HBeAg negative patients: 8% in the treated group and 81% in the untreated group, this is explained by important epidemiological differences between both groups.

In a multicenter study, 970 serum samples were collected from venezuelan health workers. Presence of HBV serological markers (HBsAg, antiHBs and total anticore) were screened by microELISA. Two-hundred and forty-seven samples (27%) showed at least one positive marker, being the most frequently found the antisurface antibody which was present in different working areas, including those considered at the low exposure level (medicine 24.7%). The proportion of antisurface positive samples also was significantly higher in the group with more than 10 years of service compared to the prevalence showed by the group with less than 5 years (19.1 vs 12.8%). Groups considered to be at low risk, contrary to the expected results, showed a similar or higher prevalence compared to the groups classified as continues or frequent exposure (17.7 vs 8.6%). Our findings suggest a permanent HBV load circulation at the venezuelan hospitals environment.

The Immunology in Gastric Cancer has slowly advanced during the past 20 years. Specific antigens have not been obtained although in a number of cases associated antigens such as alpha FP or CEA have been detected. In advanced cases the T cell immunological competence could be altered, however, compared to colorectal cancer this alteration is less significant. Serum factors seem to play an immunomodulatory role which might influence the variable response observed among the different groups of patients. In gastric cancer it seems essential to investigate the nature of those serum factors to further dissect abnormalities of T cell function.

Thirty-two patients with biliary or pancreatic disease were evaluated by duodenoscopy so as to establish the macroscopic characteristics of the papilla of Vater. In two cases, endoscopic pancreatography was performed as a diagnostic evaluation of the papilla, 30 patients were operated. Our results seem to indicate that the diagnosis of Odditis may be established by endoscopy.

Sixty per cent of the patients with immuno-compromise of the humoral compartment may show chronic diarrhoea, specially seen in the common variable hypogammaglobulinemia (CVH). We presented 3 cases of late-onset CVH who referred chronic diarrhoea as the main symptom. The immunodiagnosis revealed undetectable or subnormal immunoglobulins levels (G, M, A), preserved total haemolytic complement and a negative autoimmune screening. The cell compartment analysis showed increased number of suppressor T lymphocytes (CD8) plus hyporesponsiveness of the total peripheral lymphocytes to polyclonal mitogens such PHA. The clinical approach of the CVH patients should be performed by a multispecialized team including the clinical immunologist and the gastrointestinal and infectious diseases specialists.