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Stable E-rosette forming cells from peripheral blood of patients with acute type B hepatitis and from human thymus were compared with respect to buoyant density and FclgG receptors to stable E-rosette forming lymphocytes generated during culture of normal peripheral blood lymphocytes with concanavalin A. Stable E-rosette forming lymphocytes from patients were distributed in the same high density region of discontinuous bovine serum albumin density gradients as thymus stable E-rosette forming cells but thymus cells did not have FclgG receptors. 5-21% of normal peripheral blood lymphocytes formed stable E-rosettes after culture with concanavalin A but they were found in all densilty fractions. 6-29% of these lymphocytes had receptors for FclgG. The ability to form stable E-rosettes may be a marker for a subset of peripheral blood lymphocytes able to suppress immunological responses.

Eight patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (seven with chronic active hepatitis and one with chronic persistent hepatitis) were treated with daily intramuscular injections of human leucocyte interferon for periods of 5 to 8 weeks and in one case for 5 months. In one patient there was a marked fall in virus-associated DNA polymerase activity and in the number of DNA containing viral particles during each of two courses of interferon. Hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) also disappeared, the aspartate transaminase levels fell and liver histology improved. In the four other patients with detectable DNA polymerase activity there was an early fall but this was transient and in one of these patients there was a continuing rise in activity despite treatment. One other patient became HBeAg negative but hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) titres were mostly unaffected by treatment. A marked decrease in T-lymphocyte mediated cytotoxicity towards HBsAg coated target cells was demonstrated and raises the possibility that an immunosuppressant action of interferon may offsets its direct anti-viral action but may also account for the improvement in liver function which occurred in some patients.