Method and kit for the detection of hepatitis-specific antibodies

A method of differentiating between a cleared and chronic hepatitis infection in a subject comprising the steps of:

• a. obtaining a tissue sample from said subject;
• b. determining the anti-hepatitis virus antibody level in a first aliquot of said sample, wherein a detectable anti-hepatitis virus antibody level indicates that a subject is seropositive;
• c. stimulating a second aliquot of said sample to produce anti-hepatitis virus antibodies in vitro by incubating said second aliquot in a culture in the presence of a medium comprising a) one or more activators of (i) hepatitis virus-primed lymphocytes, (ii) memory cells specific for said hepatitis virus, (iii) hepatitis virus-specific antibody production, or (iv) a combination thereof, and b) an antibody against a B-lymphocyte membrane domain;
• d. determining the anti-hepatitis virus antibody level in said second aliquot of said sample;
• e. dividing a value representing the stimulated anti-hepatitis virus antibody level obtained in step (d) by a value representing the anti-hepatitis virus antibody level obtained in step (b) for each subject;
• and
• f. determining if the quotient obtained in step (d) is above a pre-determined threshold value for each subject,
• wherein a value below said threshold value indicates that the subject has a cleared hepatitis virus infection and a value close to said threshold value indicates that the subject has a chronic hepatitis infection, thereby differentiating between a cleared and chronic hepatitis infection in said subject.