title: T-cell responses and previous exposure to hepatitis C virus in indeterminate blood donors.
abstract: Blood donors are routinely screened for hepatitis C virus infection. Some individuals have weak or restricted virus-specific antibody responses, and are classed as indeterminate. Such donors are almost always negative for viral RNA in blood. We postulated that previous transient virus exposure might account for some of these cases. With sensitive ex-vivo analyses of T-cell responses, we identified virus-specific responses in 15 of 30 indeterminate blood donors tested, compared with none in controls (p=0.0013). Additionally, these responses were typically focused on core-derived peptides. These findings suggest previous exposure to the virus in many indeterminate blood donors.
authors.affiliation: Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Nasser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Semmo
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kurtz
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Harcourt
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klenerman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000937:Antigen-Antibody Reactions; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins