[Occurrence of increased alpha-fetoprotein in non-neoplastic hepatopathies of alcoholic or non-alcoholic origin].

In order to improve the evaluation of the frequency of alpha-fetoprotein reappearance in non-neoplastic liver disease, we assayed serum alpha-fetoprotein in 251 patients: 134 chronic alcoholics including 7 HBs Ag positive patients, 113 of whom had cirrhosis and 117 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 56 of whom were HBs Ag positive. None of these patients had any signs of hepatocellular carcinoma. Alpha-fetoprotein values above the upper normal limit (much greater than 20 ng/ml) were compared with the type of the liver disease, the serum aminotransferase activity, the usual hepatitis B-virus markers assayed by standard radioimmunology and, in 70 patients, with the results of the HBV-DNA hybridization in the liver. Abnormal alpha-fetoprotein levels were found in only 6.3 p. 100 of patients with HBs Ag negative alcoholic disease and in 17 p. 100 of patients with chronic active hepatitis, without any statistical difference concerning the presence of HBs Ag or not. Alpha-fetoprotein was more often abnormal in subjects who had hypertransaminasemia. For given values of transaminases no statistical relationship between serum alpha-fetoprotein levels and the presence of HBs Ag was observed.