title: Detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core-specific antibody suggests occult HCV infection among blood donors.
abstract: Blood transfusion safety is based on reliable donor screening for transmissible infections such as the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
  
  
  
  A novel HCV core-specific antibody was assayed on random single donations from 2007 first-time blood donors who tested negative for anti-HCV and HCV RNA on routine screening. Sample collection broke the code between donations and donors for ethical reasons.
  
  
  
  Forty-two donations (2.1%) displayed reactivity in the novel test. The specificity of the reactivity was evaluated by a peptide inhibition assay, and testing against additional nonoverlapping HCV core peptide epitopes and other HCV antigens was performed on these samples. Six donations (14.3%; 0.30% from the total) were considered to contain anti-HCV after such supplemental testing. HCV RNA detection was also performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) and serum or plasma samples from reactive donors after virus concentration by ultracentrifugation. HCV RNA tested negative in all PBMNCs samples, and a very low amount of viral genome was detected in serum or plasma concentrates from three anti-HCV core-reactive donors (7.1%) but not among concentrates from 100 randomly selected nonreactive donors. Sequencing of these polymerase chain reaction products revealed differences between the isolates that excluded partially sample contamination from a common source.
  
  
  
  These findings argue in favor of an ongoing occult HCV infection among these blood donors and account for some rather low, but perhaps not negligible, infection risk for such donations. Future studies involving larger samples of donations from traceable donors would enlighten the significance of these findings for the viral safety of the blood supply.
authors.affiliation: Fundación para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Virales, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Quiroga
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avellón
authors.affiliation: Fundación para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Virales, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bartolomé
authors.affiliation: Centro de Transfusión de la Cruz Roja, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andréu
authors.affiliation: Centro de Transfusión de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Centro de Hemoterapia y Hemodonación de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: María I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Centro de Transfusión de la Cruz Roja, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Centro de Hemoterapia y Hemodonación de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Transfusión de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Richart
authors.affiliation: Fundación para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Virales, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorios DIATER S.A, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alcover
authors.affiliation: Laboratorios DIATER S.A, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.affiliation: Fundación para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Virales, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Carreño
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Echevarría
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D058731:Blood Safety; D046148:Donor Selection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral