Evaluation of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection in blood donors in western Turkey

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infections are potentially dangerous complications of transfusion therapy.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HDV markers examined by serological and molecular methods in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-reactive sera among blood donors.

Materials and methods: Samples from 88 HBsAg-reactive blood donors were investigated for total anti-delta antibody (anti-HDV) and HDV-RNA between April 2010 and February 2011. HBsAg screening tests were performed by "microparticle enzyme immunoassay" (MEIA) method using the AxSYM system (Abbott Laboratories, USA), and total anti-delta antibody tests were performed by MEIA method using the Alisei system (Radim, Italy). HDV-RNA was quantified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Viral nucleic acid isolation system (Anatolia Geneworks) was used with Bosphore HDV quantification kit.

Results: HBsAg reactivity was determined as 1% (124/12.423) among blood donors as a whole. Eighty-eight of these 124 samples were investigated further for HDV. Three (3.4%) of the 88 HBsAg-reactive serum samples were total anti-delta antibody-reactive. Of the 3 anti-HDV-reactive sera, 2 were reactive for HDV-RNA. Therefore, HDV-RNA reactivity was determined as 2.3% (2/88) in HBsAg-reactive donors as a whole. The 2 HDV-RNA-reactive donors were brothers.

Conclusions: Investigation of HDV is important because HBV infection is endemic in Turkey. Intrafamilial transmission is important in HDV transmission.

Keywords: Blood donors; HBsAg reactivity; Hepatitis delta virus; Seroprevalence; Transfusion-transmitted infections.