Detection of hepatitis C viral sequences in blood donations by "nested" polymerase chain reaction and prediction of infectivity

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 335; no. 8703; p. 1419
• Main Authors: Garson, J A, Tedder, R S, Briggs, M, Tuke, P, Glazebrook, J A, Trute, A, Parker, D, Barbara, J A, Contreras, M, Aloysius, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 16-06-1990
• Subjects: Antigens, Viral; Blood Donors; Carrier State - immunology; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Hepatitis Antibodies - analysis; Hepatitis C - genetics; Hepatitis C - immunology; Hepatitis C - transmission; Hepatitis Viruses - genetics; Hepatitis Viruses - immunology; Hepatitis Viruses - pathogenicity; Hepatitis, Viral, Human - immunology; Humans; Oligonucleotide Probes; Plasmids - genetics; Plasmids - immunology; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Probability; Prospective Studies; Recombinant Proteins - immunology; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Viral - analysis; Transfusion Reaction; Viral Nonstructural Proteins; Viral Proteins - immunology
• ISSN: 0140-6736
• DOI: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)91446-h

Of 1100 blood donations tested during a prospective study of post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH), 6 (0.55%) were repeatedly reactive in a commercial assay for antibodies to the C100 protein of hepatitis C virus. Only 1 of the 6 donations (17%) transmitted NANBH to a recipient. Hepatitis C virus RNA sequences were detected in the serum of the transmitting donor by an assay which used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and non-radioisotopic detection. No such sequences were detected in the other 5 donors positive for anti-C100. Stored serum samples from blood donors who had been involved in three episodes of post-transfusion NANBH in 1981 also contained hepatitis C viral sequences. Although the PCR assay in its present form is not suitable for mass donor screening, the presence of hepatitis C viral sequences detected by PCR in blood donations seems a better predictor of infectivity than the presence of anti-C100 alone.