شاخص هاي Anti-HBc و DNA ويروس هپاتيت B در اهداكنندگان خون HBsAg منفي در شهر مشهد

Anti-HBc, Viral Markers and Occult Hepatitis B Infection in Blood Donors of Mashhad

Background and objective: Hepatitis B virus is one of the transfusion transmitted viruses. Blood donors screening for this virus has been done with HBsAg marker since 1960s. Because of existence of HBV genome in HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc- positive spciemens, which is called occult HBV infection (OBI), this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of anti-HBC in HBsAg-negatives blood donors of Mashhad. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional and descriptive study which was done from May 02 to July 26 2006, 5059 blood donor specimens were randomly selected from 17547 blood donations in blood transfusion centers of Mashhad and were examined for anti-HBc. All positive specimens were also tested for Anti-HBs and Anti-HBe. ALT and PCR tests were also performed for some specimens. Results: Out of 5059 cases under study, 432 cases (8.5%) were positive for anti-HBc, of which, 44 cases (9.8%) were female and 388 cases (89.2%) were male. Mean age of the subjects was 40.4 years. The specimen reactive for anti-HBc, anti-HBs and anti-HBc only were 82%, 59%, and 14% respectively. Of the specimens examined for ALT (400 samples), only 5 had abnormal values. No HBV genome was detected in 60 specimens examined by PCR method. Conclusion: Since HBsAg screening for hepatitis B virus is not able to exclude all positive blood donations for this virus and because of the moderate prevalence of HBV infection in our country, the performance of anti-HBc on blood donors specimens is highly recommended with the benefit of reducing risk of transmission and complications of this viral infection.