Prevalence of antibody to Hepatitis B core antigen and Hepatitis B virus DNA in HBsAg negative healthy blood donors

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus is one of the most important blood born viruses. Although the sensitivity of screening tests has been considerably increased, transmission may still occur due to window period or occult hepatitis B infections (OBIs). This study was aimed at evaluating the prevalence of the anti-HBc and identifying the HBV DNA in HBsAg negative blood donors. Methods: The Blood samples from 2031 HBsAg-negative blood donors were divided into three aliquots and tested for anti-HBc, anti-HBs and HBV DNA. Serologic screening including anti-HBc and anti-HBs was performed. As a confirmatory test, all positive results for anti-HBc were retested with another kit. Two positive results were considered for anti-HBc positivity. All HBsAg negative selected donations were tested by PCR assay on pooled specimens (five samples per pool), plasma samples found to be HBsAg negative but anti-HBc positive were selected for a single-unit specimen Real-Time assay. Results: The study population had a mean age of 33.25 ± 10.09 years were mainly composed of males (94.8 %). The seroprevalance rate was 4.9 % for Anti-HBc and 31.9 % for HBsAb. The majority (58.6 %) of Anti-HBc positive cases were regular blood donors with 42-49 years being the largest age group (41.4 %). Neither individual NAT nor pooled NAT test detected any HBV DNA. Conclusion: However, Screening of anti-HBc Ab is proposed as a method to identify previous contact with HBV, but there is controversy in literature data regarding the cost-benefit of exclusion of positive anti-HBc Ab in blood donors. Our data does not suggest HBc-Ab test as a screening tool in the study setting.