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Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) was prepared from human liver tissue and used in an immunoelectro-osmophoresis screening test to detect antibody to HBcAg (anti-HBc) in patients with evidence of liver disease and in blood donors. With the exception of two immunosuppressed HBsAg carriers, anti-HBc was found in all cases of hepatitis B infection even when HBsAg was detectable only by radioimmunoassay. Non-specific reactions were observed in 'non-B' hepatitis but, in spite of this problem, antib-HBc screening was considered a useful addition to routine tests in the clinical hepatitis laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new commercial test for hepatis B surface antigen based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent-assay system was evaluated and compared with other tests already available. It was of comparable sensitivity to the radioimmunoassay test but required less expensive equipment (in terms of both outlay and upkeep) and did not use radioisotopes; the reagents were more stable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]