Abstract
IN 1964 (ref. 1), we identified an antibody which is common in the blood of transfused haemophiliacs and which reacts with an antigen (first identified in an Australian aborigine, thus “Australia antigen”) found in some human sera2. Australia antigen, Au(1), is found transiently in the sera of many patients with acute viral hepatitis3–6 (13 per cent in infectious hepatitis, 34 per cent of post transfusion hepatitis7–9). This association with hepatitis has been confirmed by other workers using reference antisera from our laboratory (refs. 10 and 11, and unpublished results of Vierucci). Okochi and Murakami10 used an anti-Australia antiserum from a transfused patient which seems to be identical with reference sera we have exchanged. The “SH antigen” recently described by Prince is identical with Australia antigen11. In addition to its presence in acute viral hepatitis, Australia antigen is found in patients with some forms of leukaemia2 and Down's syndrome (who have chronic anicteric hepatitis)2,3,12,13. It is also found in 5–20 per cent of apparently normal populations in the tropics and south-east Asia2,9,14, who may be hepatitis carriers10.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blumberg, B. S., Bull. NY Acad. Med., 40, 377 (1964).
Blumberg, B. S., Alter, H. J., and Visnich, S., J. Amer. Med. Assoc., 191, 541 (1965).
Blumberg, B. S., Gerstley Betty Jane, S., Hungerford, D. A., London, W. T., and Sutnick, A. I., Ann. Internal. Med., 66, 924 (1967).
Sutnick, A. I., London, W. T., and Blumberg, B. S., J. Clin. Invest., 46, 1122 (1967).
Bayer, M. E., Blumberg, B. S., and Werner, Barbara, Nature, 218, 1057 (1968).
Sutnick, A. I., London, W. T., Bayer, M., Gerstley, Betty Jane S., Cronlund, M. M., and Blumberg, B. S., Gastroenterology, 54, 1275 (1968).
London, W. T., Sutnick, A. I., and Blumberg, B. S., Ann. Internal. Med., 70 (1969).
Blumberg, B. A., Tokyo J. Med. Sci., 76, 1 (1968).
Blumberg, B. S., Sutnick, A. I., and London, W. T., Bull. NY Acad. Med., 44, 1566 (1968).
Okochi, K., and Murakami, S., Vox Sang. (in the press).
Prince, A. M., Lancet, ii, 462 (1968).
Melartin, Liisa, and Paneluis, M., Ann. Med. Exp. Fenn., 45, 157 (1967).
Sutnick, A. I., London, W. T., Gerstley, Betty Jane S., Cronlund, M. M., and Blumberg, B. S., J. Amer. Med. Assoc., 205, 670 (1968).
Blumberg, B. S., Melartin, Liisa, Guinto, R. A., and Werner, Barbara, Amer. J. Human Genet., 18, 594 (1966).
Melartin, Lissa, and Blumberg, B. S., Nature, 210, 1340 (1966).
Blumberg, B. S., Alter, H. J., Riddell, Nancy, and Erlandson, Marion, Vox Sang., 9, 128 (1965).
Blumberg, B. S., J. Clin. Invest., 45, 988 (1966).
London, W. T., DiFigilia, Marion, Sutnick, A. I., Ziegenfuss, J., and Blumberg, B. S., Clin. Res., 16, 567 (1968).
Hampers, C. L., Proger, D., and Senior, J. R., New Engl. J. Med., 271, 747 (1964).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LEVENE, C., BLUMBERG, B. Additional Specificities of Australia Antigen and the Possible Identification of Hepatitis Carriers. Nature 221, 195–196 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/221195a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/221195a0
This article is cited by
-
HBsAg subtype distribution among different populations of HBsAg carriers in Spain
European Journal of Epidemiology (1995)
-
Conformation of group “a” epitope in hepatitis B surface antigen
Archives of Pharmacal Research (1992)
-
Studies on the development of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg) by monoclonal antibodies of different affinity constants
Archives of Pharmacal Research (1987)
-
The prevalence of ay and ad subtypes of the hepatitis B surface antigen in Belgium
Infection (1978)
-
Geographical distribution of the subtype of hepatitis b surface antigen in chinese
Gastroenterologia Japonica (1977)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.