ABSTRACT
In the late 1960s, the agents of viral hepatitis had not yet been identied and diagnosis was exclusively based on clinical observations and some biochemical markers of liver damage or dysfunction. The detection and study of hepatitis viruses was possible only by epidemiological studies or experimental transmission to humans. In this highly unsatisfactory situation, the accidental discovery of the virus-like particles (VLPs) associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections was the starting point for the entire research on viral hepatitis (for review, see Ref. [1]). VLPs are particularly important for hepatitis B, but their potential signicance for the diagnosis and prevention of the other hepatitis viruses will be briey discussed as well.
