Hepatic expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in viral hepatitis B.

The in situ distribution patterns of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and human leukocyte antigen-DR antigens were studied in serial sections of 61 liver biopsy specimens from patients with hepatitis B virus infection using immunohistochemical techniques. In addition, the topographical relationship between the display of HBcAg on one hand and the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 by hepatocytes on the other was analyzed with a double-staining immunohistochemical procedure in 14 selected liver biopsy samples showing chronic persistent or chronic active hepatitis and signs of active hepatitis B virus replication as reflected by the presence of variable amounts of HBcAg in a nuclear or cytoplasmic pattern of immunoreactivity. Coexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and human leukocyte antigen-DR antigens by hepatocytes correlated positively with the site and extent of the inflammatory infiltrate, which was composed of lymphocytes expressing lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1. In healthy HBsAg-positive carriers without inflammatory liver disease, no intercellular adhesion molecule-1 or human leukocyte antigen-DR expression was found on hepatocytes; in acute hepatitis, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and human leukocyte antigen-DR were strongly expressed throughout the liver parenchyma on liver cell membranes and on sinusoidal lining cells. In chronic persistent and chronic active hepatitis and in active cirrhosis, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and human leukocyte antigen-DR showed membranous positivity on focal clusters of hepatocytes in areas of periportal or intraacinar inflammation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)