title: Serum Neopterin: A Potential Marker for Screening Blood Donors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine serum neopterin levels in blood donors of local population and its association with transfusion transmitted infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Physiology, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College (LNHMC) in collaboration with Basic Medical Sciences Institute (BMSI) and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Blood Bank, Karachi, Pakistan, from January to June 2015.
  
  
  METHODS
  During this period, a total of 174 blood donors were selected through random sampling technique. All participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria involving apparently healthy blood donors of either gender within the age bracket of 18 - 60 years and consenting to participate were selected. The participants were screened for transfusion transmitted infections as per WHO recommendations through the standard procedures used for screening at the JPMC blood bank. The demographic profile, anthropometric measurements and vitals were recorded for every participant. Serum neopterin was measured using ELISA kits. Data was analysed on SPSS version 21. ANOVA and chi-square tests were applied as tests of significance at a p-value of <0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The neopterin content in the sera of disease negative blood donors was 6.23 ±2.19 nmol/l as compared to disease positive blood donors, in whom the neopterin level was increased to 15.10 ±4.93 nmol/l (p =0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The neopterin assay has the potential to detect a number of transfusion transmissible viral diseases; which may, or may not be revealed by the usually employed battery of routine tests. We conclude that the risk of transfusion transmitted pathogens in our population can be reduced significantly, using neopterin assay as a routine in blood banks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College (LNHMC), Karachi.
authors.forename: Ahsan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ashfaq
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi.
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ejaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Pathology, Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Ghazanfar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abbas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000635:transmission; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin / Q000097:blood*; D010154:Pakistan; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019798:Neopterin