Abstract
To inquire whether the establishment of HBsAg carrier state was genetically determined or not, HLA typing was carried out in 58 infants in whom HBs antigenemia persisted one year or longer since their contraction of infantile papular acrodermatitis (Gianotti's disease). The frequency of HLA Bw54 in the carrier infants (39.6%) was found to be significantly higher than that observed in normal Japanese population (12.8%) (X2=20.54, corrected P<6.8×10-5). Furthermore the frequency of Bw54 increased with the age when the infants had infantile papular acrodermatitis. These findings showed that genetical factors were involved in the establishment of HBsAg carrier state in the infants who were infected with hepatitis B virus. However the high frequency of Bw54 was observed in male carrier infants, not in female. This finding indicates the genetical regulation in the establishment of HBsAg carrier state is affected by sex.
