Prevalence of hepatitis D virus in blood donors with different hepatitis B virus markers of infection

PATACCINI, G; PEDROZO, W ; MATHET VL; BIGLIONE MM; DELFINO CM

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY

LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS

Lugar: Philadelphia; Año: 2021

0954-691X

Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a satellite agent that requiresthe auxiliary function of hepatitis B virus (HBV) for itsassembly and transmission; however, it has been shownthat HDV can assemble infectious particles by subvertingthe envelope proteins of viruses other than HBV. HDVaffects 15?20 million of chronic HBV carriers worldwide.Nevertheless, recent studies suggest that the prevalence ofHDV is at least three-fold higher than previous estimations[1]. Regarding HDV infection, there are few studieson the prevalence of anti-HDV antibodies in Argentina. Inthe 1990s, prevalence ranged from 0.7?5.7%, dependingon the study group, while in 2014 a 2.12% was recordedamong blood donors [1]. The aim of this study was toestimate the prevalence of anti-HDV antibodies in blooddonor samples with different HBV serological markers.A retrospective study of 313 serum samples fromblood donors from a blood bank of Misiones province,Argentina were performed. Of the total, 37 samples werereactive for HBsAg/total anti-HBc antibodies and 276 fortotal anti-HBc antibodies. The samples were collected during2012 and 2013. All blood donors (nonrepeated) signedinformed consent to participate in the study. Total anti-HDV antibodies were tested by ELISA (Murex, AbbottDiagnostics) in all HBV-reactive samples. Statistical testswere performed using Epidat v3.1 software, P values