Viral safety of solvent/detergent-treated plasma.
BACKGROUND
Pooling of plasma donations increases the risk for blood-borne infections. In solvent/detergent (SD)-treated plasma, lipid-enveloped viruses are efficiently inactivated. This method, however, does not affect non-lipid-enveloped viruses. The current study investigated the viral safety of SD-treated plasma (Octaplas) and paid particular attention to the transmission of non-lipid-enveloped viruses.


METHODS
The study comprised 343 adults undergoing cardiac surgery. Follow-up was performed 6 to 12 months and 2 years after operation. The sera were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen and specific antibodies against hepatitis A, B, and C; cyto-megalovirus; HIV, human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II; and human parvovirus B19 (B19). A total of 25 batches of SD-treated plasma prepared from Norwegian plasma were used. All batches were tested for hepatitis A virus and B19 by nucleic acid amplification testing and investigated for neutralizing antibodies directed against these viruses.


RESULTS
In patients who received SD-treated plasma, B19 seroconversion occurred at a rate similar to that in nontransfused patients. No other seroconversions could be ascribed to the transfusion of SD-treated plasma. All 25 SD-treated plasma batches contained neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis A virus and B19. In nucleic amplification testing, all SD-treated plasma batches tested positive for B19, while five demonstrated borderline reactions for hepatitis A virus.


CONCLUSIONS
Transfusion of SD-treated plasma was found to be safe with regard to lipid-enveloped viruses. Immune antibodies neutralize viral particles in plasma and are of importance in avoiding clinical disease with the non-lipid-enveloped hepatitis A virus and B19.
Solheim
B G
BG
Institute of Immunology, Rikshospitalet, The National Hospital, University of Oslo, Norway. b.g.solheim@rh.uio.no
Rollag
H
H
Svennevig
J L
JL
Arafa
O
O
Fosse
E
E
Bergerud
U
U
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D003902:Detergents / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010949:Plasma / Q000187:drug effects; D012997:Solvents / Q000494:pharmacology; D014766:Viremia / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission
D003902:Detergents; D012997:Solvents