title: Elevated alanine aminotransferase in blood donors: role of different factors and multiple viral infections.
abstract: Many different aetiological agents stimulate alanine aminotransferase (ALT) production. Viral markers and other aetiologies were investigated in 2166 individuals, randomly selected from 10,000 consecutive blood donors. Elevation of ALT was found in 10.8% of subjects. Grouping donors according to ALT level and correlating with, respectively, hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb), cytomegalovirus antibody alone, or associated with HBcAb, showed similar findings (high ALT 11.1%, normal 11.6%; high 85.4%, normal 81.4%; high 10.2%, normal 11.0%, respectively). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody was found to be significantly associated with elevated ALT levels (high 1.7%, normal 0.26%). Other causes of ALT elevation were alcohol abuse (17%), obesity (25%) and dyslipidaemia (38%), but in 11% there was no obvious aetiology. Although HCV is a rare cause of elevated ALT in blood donors, it seems to be the only virus, among those tested, to account for liver damage. This may be due to the non-protective role of HCV antibody, the low specificity of ALT, or the pathogenic role of uninvestigated viruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delle Monache
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miceli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santolamazza
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mannella
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mercurio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Lorenzo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bacosi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gerardi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berardo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miglioresi
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Ricci
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001782:Blood Donors; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000410:Alanine Transaminase