Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, Vol 178, 468-475, Copyright © 1985 by Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Transfer factor for the treatment of HBsAg-positive chronic active hepatitis

E Roda, D Viza, G Pizza, L Mastroroberto, J Phillips, C De Vinci and L Barbara

Transfer factor was obtained from four patients having recovered from acute type-B viral hepatitis. It was replicated in vitro using the LDV/7 lymphoblastoid cell line. This in vitro-produced transfer factor specific for hepatitis B (TFdL-H) was administered to 10 randomly selected patients with biochemically and histologically proven HBsAg- positive chronic active hepatitis (CAH) at 15-day intervals over a 6- month period. In three out of four initially HBeAg-positive patients, anti-HBe antibodies appeared when the HBeAg disappeared. In one of these patients and in two other HBsAg-positive patients, the appearance of anti-HBs antibodies was noted. The improvement in several biochemical parameters of the TFdL-H patients was statistically significant when compared with those of another group of 10 randomly selected untreated CAH patients. Liver biopsies in six out of eight treated patients showed a histological improvement at the end of the treatment. These results suggest that TFdL-H may be used with beneficial effect for the treatment of HBsAg-positive CAH.