title: Significance of isolated hepatitis B core antibody in blood donors from São Paulo.
abstract: The clinical significance of isolated anti-HBc is still a challenge. To elucidate the real importance of this finding in our blood donors, an investigation algorithm was tested. One hundred and twelve isolated anti-HBc seropositive blood donors underwent clinical evaluation and retesting of HBV markers. Those who presented repeatedly reactive isolated anti-HBc, received a single dose of hepatitis B recombinant vaccine to verify anti-HBs early response. A HBV-DNA determination by PCR was done for those who did not test positive to anti-HBs after vaccine. The level of anti-HBc was recorded as a ratio of the sample-to-cut-off values (S:C ratio) in 57 candidates at donation. Comparing true and false-positive anti-HBc results, the different S:C ratios of them were statistically significant and when less than 2, implying in a false-positive result probability over 80%. A high percent of false-positive results (16.07%) was verified after anti-HBc retesting. HBV immunity was characterized in 49.11%, either by anti-HBs detection in retesting (15.18%), or after a single dose HBV vaccination (33.93%). HBV-DNA was negative in all tested donors. In conclusion, this algorithm was useful to clarify the meaning of isolated anti-HBc in most of our blood donors.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Pró-Sangue Hemocentro de São Paulo, SP, Brasil. cesarnt@apm.org.br
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Almeida Neto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Sabino
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sucupira
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chamone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001782:Blood Donors; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines