Comparative study of two methods for hepatitis B antigen (HBAg) detection: double sequential counterimmunoelectrophoresis (DCIEP) and Ausria II-125I radioimmunoassay.

Double sequential counterimmunoelectrophoresis (DCIEP) (an improved method that we have developed) and Ausria II-125I (an indirect solid-phase radioimmunoassay) were compared for HBAg detection in chronic liver diseases. 26.8% of the patients were positive using DCIEP and 41.8% were positive with Ausria II125I. The conventional counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) is less sensitive than DCIEP, the level of positive results being 18.8% (P less than 0.001)9