Australia Antigen detected in the Nuclei of Liver Cells of Patients with Viral Hepatitis by the Fluorescent Antibody Technique

OUR suspicion that the Australia antigen associated with acute and chronic hepatitis is a virus and is the cause of the disease has been supported by examination of material from affected patients. Au(1) was first detected in the serum of an Australian aborigine1, and the geographic distribution, disease association, genetics and physical and chemical characteristics of this unusual antigen have been described2–4. One of the most startling findings in the investigation of Au(1) was the appearance of purified fractions when viewed with the electron microscope, as observed by Bayer et al.5. The fractions contained uniformly round particles measuring approximately 200 A in diameter with cores in some particles and what appeared to be surface subunits (Fig. 1). Antibody to Au(1) has occurred in transfused patients who have received multiple transfusions and was produced in rabbits by hyperimmunization with human sera containing Au(1). Both the human and rabbit antisera gave identical precipitin reactions6.