Anti-HBc and HBV-DNA detection in blood donors negative for hepatitis B virus surface antigen

Abstract

Occult HBV infection is defined as the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in blood or liver tissues in patients negative for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg). Those patients may or may not be positive for HBV antibodies. The objective of this study is to determine the presence or absence of HBV DNA in the serum samples from HBsAg negative blood donors. In addition we aimed to assess the magnitude of occult HBV infection and to reduce the risk of HBV infection. Over a period of one year a total of 7340 blood units were collected at blood transfusion center in our locality for the prevalence of HBV infection and 180 HBsAg negative blood specimens were randomly selected for anti-HBcIgM, anti-HBs antibody and HBV DNA. Ninety seven out of 7340 collected blood units were positive for HbsAg (1.3%).The randomly selected 180 tested donors revealed 7 (3.8%) positive for antiHBc IgM and 34 (18.8%) were positive for anti-HBs antibodies. Four out of 7 positive for anti-HBc IgM were also positive for anti-HBs and 2/180 (1.1%) specimens were positive for HBV DNA by PCR. Anti-HBc antibody should be tested routinely at any blood transfusion center and if they were positive regardless of anti-HBs titer, the blood should be discarded. Also HBV DNA is preferable to be performed to all blood donors to present completely safe blood transfusion.

Share and Cite:

Badrawy, H. and Bakry, R. (2013) Anti-HBc and HBV-DNA detection in blood donors negative for hepatitis B virus surface antigen. American Journal of Molecular Biology, 3, 62-66. doi: 10.4236/ajmb.2013.31008.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Soldan, K., Davison, K. and Dow, B. (2005) Estimates of the frequency of HBV, HCV and HIV infectious donations entering the blood supply in the United Kingdom, 1996 to 2003. Eurosurveillance, 10, 9-10.
[2] Pillonel, J. and Laperche, S. (2003) Trends in risk of transfusion transmitted viral infections (HIV, HCV, HBV) in France between 1992 and 2003 and impact of nucleic acid testing (NAT). Eurosurveillance, 10, 5-6.
[3] Stroffolini, T., Mele, A., Tosti, M.E., Gallo, G., Balocchino, E. and Ragni, P. (2000) The impact of the hepatitis B mass immunization campaign on the incidence and risk factors of acute hepatitis B in Italy. Journal of Hepatology, 33, 980-985. doi:10.1016/S0168-8278(00)80132-4
[4] Badur, S. and Akgun, A. (2001) Diagnosis of hepatitis B infections and monitoring of treatment. Journal of Clinical Virology, 21, 229-237. doi:10.1016/S1386-6532(01)00147-0
[5] Schreiber, G.B., Busch, M.P., Kleinman, S.H. and Korelitz, J.J. (1996) The risk of transfusion-transmitted viral infections. The Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study. The New England Journal of Medicine, 4, 1685-1690. doi:10.1056/NEJM199606273342601
[6] Dreier, J., Kroger, M., Diekmann, J., Gotting, C. and Kleesiek, K.L. (2004) Level viraemia of hepatitis B virus in an anti-HBc-and anti-HBs-positive blood donor. Transfusion Medicine, 14, 97-103. doi:10.1111/j.0958-7578.2004.0486.x
[7] Yotsuyanagi, H, Yasuda, K. and Iino, S. (1998) Persistent viremia after recovery from self-limited acute hepatitis B. Hepatology, 27, 1377-1382. doi:10.1002/hep.510270526
[8] Dickson, R.C., Everhart, J.E. and Lake, J.R. (1997) Transmission of hepatitis B by transplantation of livers from donors positive for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen. The National Institute of Diabetes and digestive and Kidney diseases liver Transplantation Database. Gastroenterology, 113, 1668-1674. doi:10.1053/gast.1997.v113.pm9352871
[9] Kleinman, S.H., Kuhns, M.C. and Todd, D.S. (2003) Frequency of HBV DNA detection in US blood donors testing positive for the presence of anti-HBc: Implications for transfusion transmission and donor screening. Transfusion, 43, 696-704. doi:10.1046/j.1537-2995.2003.00391.x
[10] Torbenson, M. and Thomas, D.L. (2002) Occult hepatitis B. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2, 479-486. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(02)00345-6
[11] Souza, L.O., Pinho, J.R., Carrilho, F.J. and da Silva, L.C. (2004) Absence of hepatitis B virus DNA in patients with hepatitis C and non-A-E hepatitis in the State of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 37, 1665-1668. doi:10.1590/S0100-879X2004001100011
[12] Alencar, R.S., Gomes, M.M. and Sitnik, R. (2008) Low occurrence of occult hepatitis B virus infection and high frequency of hepatitis C virus genotype 3 in hepatocellular carcinoma in Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 41, 235-240. doi:10.1590/S0100-879X2006005000197
[13] Arababadi, M.K., Mohammadzadeh, A., Pourfathollah, A.A. and Kennedy, D. (2011) Polymorphisms within Fas gene are not associated with occult hepatitis B virus infection. Hepatitis Monthly, 11, 23-26.
[14] Conjeevaram, H.S. and Lok, A.S. (2001) Occult hepatitis B virus infection: A hidden menace? Hepatology, 34, 204-206. doi:10.1053/jhep.2001.25225
[15] Comanor, L. and Holland, P. (2006) Hepatitis B virus blood screening. Vox Sanguinis, 91, 1-12. doi:10.1111/j.1423-0410.2006.00773.x
[16] Allain, J.P., Candotti, D. and Soldan, K. (2003) The risk of hepatitis B virus infection by transfusion in Kumasi, Ghana. Blood, 101, 2419-2425. doi:10.1182/blood-2002-04-1084
[17] Kleinman, S.H., Kuhns, M.C. and Todd, D.S. (2003) Frequency of HBV-DNA detection in US blood donors testing positive for the presence of anti-HBc: Implication for transfusion transmission and donor screening. Transfusion, 43, 696-704. doi:10.1046/j.1537-2995.2003.00391.x
[18] Henning, H., Puchta, I. and Luhm, J. (2002) Frequency and load of hepatitis B virus DNA in first time blood donors with antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen. Blood, 100, 2637-2641. doi:10.1182/blood-2002-03-0798
[19] Manzini, P., Girotto, M. and Borsotti, R. (2007) Italian blood donors with anti-HBc and occult hepatitis B virus infection. Haematologica, 92, 1664-1670. doi:10.3324/haematol.11224
[20] Zervou, E.K., Dalekos, G.N., Boumba, D.S. and Tsianos, E.V. (2001) Value of anti-HBc screening of blood donors for prevention of HBV infection: Results of a 3-year prospective study in Northwestern Greece. Transfusion, 41, 652-658. doi:10.1046/j.1537-2995.2001.41050652.x
[21] Bernvill, S.S., Andrews, V., Kuhns, M.C. and McNamara, A.L. (1997) Hepatitis B core antigen antibody as an indicator of a low grade carrier state for hepatitis B virus in a Saudi Arabian blood donor population. Transfusion Science, 18, 49-53. doi:10.1016/S0955-3886(96)00076-8
[22] Seo, D.H., Whang, D.H., Song, E.Y., Kim, H.S. and Park, Q. (2011) Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen and occult hepatitis B virus infection in Korean blood donors. Transfusion, 18, 121-128
[23] El-Zayadi, A.R., Ibrahim, E.H. and Badran, H.M. (2008) Anti-HBc screening in Egyptian blood donors reduces the risk of hepatitis B virus transmission. Transfusion Medicine, 18, 55-61. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3148.2007.00806.x
[24] Antar, W., El-Shokry, M.H., Abd El Hamid, W.A. and Helmy, M.F. (2010) Significance of detecting anti-HBc among Egyptian male blood donors negative for HBsAg. Transfusion Medicine, 20, 409-413. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3148.2010.01021.x
[25] Asim, M., Ali, R., Luqman, A., Khan, S.A. and Singla, R. (2010) Significance of anti-HBc screening of blood donors & its association with occult hepatitis B virus infection: Implications for blood transfusion. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 132, 312-317.
[26] Behbahani, B., Mafi-Nejad, A., Lankarani, K.B., Torab, A. and Moaddeb, A. (2006) Anti-HBc & HBV-DNA detection in blood donors negative for hepatitis B virus surface antigen in reducing risk of transfusion associated HBV infection. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 123, 37-42.
[27] Roche, B., Feray, C. and Gigou, M. (2003) HBV DNA persistence 10 years after liver transplantation despite successful anti-HBS passive immunoprophylaxis. Hepatology, 38, 86-95. doi:10.1053/jhep.2003.50294
[28] Tonekaboni, S.S., Waters, J.A., Jeffers, S., Gehrke, R., Ofenloch, B., Horsch, A., et al. (2000) Effect of variation in the common “a” determinant on the antigenicity of hepatitis B surface antigen. Journal of Medical Virology, 60, 113-121. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-9071(200002)60:2<113::AID-JMV2>3.0.CO;2-0
[29] Nandi, J. and Benerjee, K. (1992) Detection of hepatitis B virus DNA in donor blood by the polymerase chain reaction. The National Medical Journal of India, 5, 5-7
[30] Matsumoto, C., Tadokoro, K. and Fujimura, K. (2001) Analysis of HBV infection after blood transfusion in Japan through investigation of a comprehensive donor specimen repository. Transfusion, 41, 878-884. doi:10.1046/j.1537-2995.2001.41070878.x
[31] Cossart, Y.E., Kirsch, S. and Ismay, S.L. (1982) Post transfusion hepatitis in Australia. Report of the Australian Red Cross study. Lancet, 1, 208-213. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(82)90770-X
[32] Regan, F., Hewitt, P., Barbara, J. and Contreras, M. (2000) Prospective investigation of transfusion transmitted infection in recipients of over 20,000 units of blood. British Medical Journal, 320, 403-406. doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7232.403
[33] Rakela, J., Mosley, J.W., Aach, G.L., Gitnick, G.L., Hollinger, F.B., Stevens, C.E., et al. (1980) Viral hepatitis after transfusion with blood containing antibody to heaptitis B core antigen. Gastroenterology, 78, 1318-1323
[34] Katchaki, J.N., Siem, T.H., Brouwer, R., Brandt, K.H. and van der Waart, M. (1980) Detection and significance of anti-HBc in the blood bank; Preliminary results of a controlled prospective study. Journal of Virological Methods, 2, 119-125. doi:10.1016/0166-0934(80)90045-2
[35] Koziol, D.E., Holland, P.V. and Alling, D.W. (1986) Antibody to hepatitis B core antigen as a paradoxical marker for non-A, non-B hepatitis agents in donated blood. Annals of Internal Medicine, 104, 488-495
[36] Mosley, J.W., Stevens, C.E. and Aach, R.D. (1995) Donor screening for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen and hepatitis B virus infection in transfusion recipients. Transfusion, 35, 5-12. doi:10.1046/j.1537-2995.1995.35195090661.x
[37] Soldan, K., Ramsay, M. and Collins, M. (1999) Acute hepatitis B infection associated with blood transfusion in England and Wales. British Medical Journal, 318, 95-99. doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7176.95

Journals Menu
Follow SCIRP
Contact us
+1 323-425-8868
customer@scirp.org
WhatsApp +86 18163351462(WhatsApp)
Click here to send a message to me 1655362766
Paper Publishing WeChat

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.