Detection of hepatitis G virus envelope protein E2 antibody in blood donors.
OBJECTIVE
The frequency of hepatitis G virus exposure in blood donors varies between 2.5% in Japan to 24.2% in Poland. Therefore there is a geographic difference in distribution of hepatitis G virus (HGV) in the world. We aimed to determine the frequency of HGV exposure in Iranian blood donors.


METHODS
Blood samples from 478 Iranian volunteer blood donors were tested. Positive anti-E2 samples were tested for HGV RNA by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) using primers derived from the NS5A region of the viral genome.


RESULTS
Of the 478 donors enrolled in our study, five (1%) were positive for anti-E2. Only one donor out of a total of three HBsAg-positive donors was co-infected with HGV, but we did not find HGV and HCV co-infection in our subjects. HGV RNA was not observed in the five anti-E2-positive subjects. We did not find HGV viremia and antibody at the same time.


CONCLUSIONS
A low frequency of HGV exposure in blood donors was found in this study. We did not observe co-infection of HGV with HCV in our subjects, supporting the theory that although the parenteral route is the most effective means of transmission, other routes such as sexual contact and intra-familial contact may also play a role in HGV transmission.
Ramezani
Amitis
A
Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. iiccom@iiccom.com
Gachkar
Latif
L
Eslamifar
Ali
A
Khoshbaten
Manoochehr
M
Jalilvand
Somayeh
S
Adibi
Ladan
L
Salimi
Vahid
V
Hamkar
Rasool
R
D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D029407:GB virus C / Q000276:immunology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*
D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C107619:glycoprotein E2, GB virus C