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The histological lesions found in patients with hepatic disease and positive anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA) by immunofluorescence were compared with those in 10 subjects of the same age and sex with negative AMA. The majority of the patients with positive AMA were suffering from primary biliary cirrhosis, the diagnosis being based upon the histological appearance (Stage 1 of Scheuer's classification: 40%) or the presence of clinical signs of cholestasis with a compatible histological appearance (40%). None of the remaining patients (20%) with positive AMA nor the 10 individuals with negative AMA showed histological signs suggestive of primary biliary cirrhosis. The absence of certain clinico-biological factors, with the exception of Stage 1 histology, gives a high degree of value to a high level of AMA in the diagnostic of PBC.

HBeAg and Ab are investigated by simple radial immunodiffusion in dextrane following Magnius. 14 patients (28%) were HBeAg positive and 2 patients HBeAb positive (4%). HBsAg subtyping was ad in 6 cases and ay in further 5. No relation was found between both determinants and HBeAg. Six of the 10 patients with HBeAg in their sera developed chronic liver disease o fulminant hepatitis, while only 3 of the 21 HBeAg negative controls did so (p less than 0.05). HBeAg is a marker of the evolution of virus B hepatitis.