Author/Authors :
Tarhini Mahdi نويسنده , Kchour Ghada نويسنده Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology,
Faculty of Sciences I, Lebanese University, Hadath,
Lebanon , Fayyad-Kazan Mohammad نويسنده Institut de Biologie et de Medecine Moleculaires,
Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 6041 Gosselies,
Belgium , Haddad Antoine نويسنده Department of Clinical Pathology and Blood Banking, Sacre
coeur Hospital, Lebanese University, Lebanon , Badran Bassam نويسنده Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology,
Faculty of Sciences I, Lebanese University, Hadath,
Lebanon
Abstract :
Background A major risk during blood transfusion is the
transmission of infectious agents such as Hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Screening for anti-HBc antibodies has long been used to test HBV
infection and thus, blood safety. However, the development of advanced
tools enabling HBV-DNA detection rendered the diagnostic benefit of
anti-HBc test uncertain. Objectives In this study, we aimed to evaluate
the relationship between HBV-DNA, anti-HBs, and anti-HBc loads. Methods
Sera of 7200 blood donors were first screened for HBs antigen (HBsAg)
and anti-HBc antibody. Samples that were found to be HBsAg-negative but
anti-HBc-positive were further tested for anti-HBs and HBV-DNA. Results
Of the 7200 tested samples, 7143 (99.2%) were HBsAg-negative, while the
remaining 57 (0.8%) samples were HBsAg-positive. Among the
HBsAg-negative samples, 490 (6.8%) were anti-HBc-positive. Of the
anti-HBc positive samples, 397 (81%) were anti-HBs-positive, while the
remaining 93 (19%) samples were anti-HBs-negative. Interestingly, all of
the anti-HBc positive samples, which also were positive for anti-HBs,
exhibited negative HBV-DNA results. On the other hand, the anti-HBc
positive samples, which were negative for anti-HBs, showed both negative
and positive HBV-DNA results. Conclusions Blood samples which are
positive for both anti-HBc and anti-HBs are characterized by negative
HBV load.
