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Hepatitis D test: IgM antibodies to HDV in blood
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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IgM antibodies to HDV are normally absent in blood serum.
Viral hepatitis D is a viral infection that, due to the biological characteristics of the virus (HDV), occurs exclusively in the form of co- or superinfection against the background of viral hepatitis B, characterized by a severe course, often with an unfavorable outcome.
The causative agent is HDV, which in its biological properties is close to viroids - naked nucleic acid molecules. The human liver is the only place for HDV replication. Two variants of infection are known to exist: coinfection (simultaneous infection with HBV and HDV) and superinfection (infection with HDV of HB s Ag-positive patients). The combination of viral hepatitis B and viral hepatitis D is accompanied by the development of more severe forms of the pathological process, which is determined mainly by the action of HDV. Infection with HDV can cause an acute disease ending in recovery, or form a chronic HDV carrier.
In viral hepatitis D, markers of viral hepatitis B - anti-HB c and HB s Ag - may be absent in the blood. Suppression of DNA polymerase activity is noted, since HDV inhibits the replication of the HBV virus.
Antibodies to HDV IgM (anti-HDV IgM) appear in the acute period of infection (from the 2nd week). As recovery from viral hepatitis D progresses, the virus is eliminated from the liver and anti-HDV IgM disappears (after 2 months from the onset of the acute period). When the process becomes chronic, HDV persists in the liver tissue and anti-HDV IgM in high concentrations in the blood.
Antibodies to HDV IgM indicate active viral replication.
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