U.K. multicentre study on blood donors for surrogate markers of non-A non-B hepatitis. Part I: Alanine transferase and anti-HBc testing |
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Authors: | N. A. B. Anderson,A. Raafat,K. H. Shwe&dagger ,J. Barbara,M. Contreras,I. D. Fraser,H. H. Gunson&dagger ,V. Martlew&dagger ,V. Mijovic,D. J. Goldie&Dagger ,C. J. Seneviratne§ ,A. Bendle,M. Briggs¶ ,K. Paver |
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Affiliation: | Regional Transfusion Centre, Bristol, U.K. |
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Abstract: | Blood samples from 9,215 blood donors in three U.K. centres (North London, Bristol and Manchester) were tested for their alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and the presence of anti-HBc and anti-HCV. This paper presents the results of the ALT and anti-HBc tests. The prevalence of ALT > 45 IU/l was 3.1% overall (North London 3.06%, Bristol 4.56% and Manchester 1.97%). Manchester results were skewed by the methodology used for ALT measurement, highlighting the need for standard test methods. Anti-HBc was detected using the Wellcome enzyme-immunosorbent assay (EIA) and confirmatory testing was performed using a radioimmunoassay (RIA) and the Corecell haemagglutination assay. Repeat reactive rates were 0.9, 0.79 and 0.94% for North London, Bristol and Manchester, respectively, with an overall rate of 0.9%. The confirmed positive rate was 0.73, 0.53 and 0.65% for the three centres with an overall rate of 0.63%. Donors with an ALT > 45 IU/l, or with confirmed anti-HBc, were interviewed with a medical questionnaire for risk factors. The major contributing factors in donors with a raised ALT were alcohol consumption and obesity. |
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Keywords: | alanine aminotransferase anti-HBc blood donors |
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