title: Determination of alanine aminotransferase in blood donor screening--evidence of its usefulness in the prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis.
abstract: A total of 408 HBsAg and anti-HCV-negative patients with elevated ALT levels referred from blood banks were studied. Of these, 359 were followed up. HBsAg and anti-HCV were repeated in the first visit and ALT was checked at a 3 months interval. A liver biopsy was indicated when ALT levels remained abnormal for more than 6 months. Of the patients included, 316/359 (88%) were men, with a mean age of 34 years. In the first visit, 3 (0.8%) patients were anti-HCV positive upon serological reevaluation, with persistence of elevated ALT in all of them. A biopsy revealed chronic hepatitis in all three cases. Twenty-two patients were positive for anti-HBc, 20 of them were immune (anti-HBs positive), one developed anti-HBs after a vaccine dose, and one was HBsAg positive. The present study suggests that ALT can be a useful marker for the detection of hepatitis C virus infected donors in whom technical problems might have occurred in serological screening.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sandra T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Khouri
authors.forename: Edmundo P A
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Renata M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Virginia M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: Valéria P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Lanzoni
authors.forename: Antonio Eduardo B
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Maria Lucia G
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ferraz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000410:Alanine Transaminase