Increased IgM Class Circulating Immune Complexes in Acute Hepatitis A Virus Infection

For assessing the role of circulating immune complexes (CIC) in acute hepatitis A, IgM- and IgG-specific CIC were determined, by C1q and conglutinin (K) assays, in 205 patients with acute hepatitis A and 60 healthy controls. The concentration of each type of CIC in patients was higher than healthy controls (P= 0.0001). CIC was a common feature of acute hepatitis A with 95.6% of cases having at least one abnormal test result. The prevalence of abnormal IgM class CIC was significantly higher than IgG class CIC. There were significantly inverse correlations between levels of IgM class CIC and interval between onset of symptoms and patient presentation. The prevalence of abnormal IgM CIC was higher in patients with higher alanine aminotransferase (P= 0.001) and patients with jaundice (P= 0.0002). In conclusion, IgM class CIC is the predominant CIC in acute hepatitis A and correlated with disease activity. CIC may play a role in the pathogenesis of acute hepatitis A.