title: Surrogate testing for non-A, non-B hepatitis in Queensland, Australia: an ALT microtitre tray method for screening blood donors.
abstract: The estimation of plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) has been proposed as a surrogate test to identify potential non-A, non-B hepatitis carriers in blood donor populations. This report describes an ALT screening procedure which uses wells of microtitration trays as reactant vessels. The method utilizes a rate reading photometer, is economical and conveniently fits into the routine workflow. Within-batch and between-batch precision was 4.1% and 6.3% at enzyme concentrations of 49 IU/I. Results of testing 29,675 healthy blood donors gave values which ranged between 1.0 IU/I and 214 IU/I. A study of 762 donations showed a significant difference in mean ALT values between males and females (p less than 0.01). When a cut-off value of 46 IU/I was used, 2.5 percent of donations were considered unsuitable for transfusion. The medico-legal implications that may arise from the introduction of this screening test into the routine work flow are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Australian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (Queensland Division), Brisbane.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hyland
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mazzocchi
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D002353:Carrier State / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011793:Queensland; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000410:Alanine Transaminase