HBV infection in voluntary blood donors in Qingdao, China: Serological and viral characterizations / 中国输血杂志

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To study and analyze the serological and viral charactereristics of hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection in voluntary blood donors in Qingdao. 【Methods】 315 520 blood samples of voluntary blood donors were screened by ELISA combined with nucleic acid testing (NAT). All HBsAg-/HBV DNA+ samples were subjected to high-precision viral load detection and five serological markers of HBV. The sequence of HBV S gene was detected by PCR direct sequencing, and virus genotypes and amino acid mutations were analyzed. 【Results】 A total of 604(0.20%)HBV ELISA or NAT reactive samples were detected: HBsAg+ /HBV DNA- in 307(0.10%) cases, HBsAg-/HBV DNA+ in 138(0.04%) and HBsAg+ /HBV DNA+ in 157(0.05%). Among the 138 HBsAg-/HBV DNA+ donors, 118(85.5%) carried anti-HBc, and 45 (32.61%) carried sole anti-HBc and 5 (3.62%) carried both HBsAg and anti-HBc. In viral load detection, 64 were quantitatively negative and 74 were quantitatively positive, of which 42 were HBV DNA 20 IU/mL. 13 HBsAg-/HBV DNA+ samples were successfully amplified and sequenced, and 5 were genotype B, presenting a total of 17 amino acid mutations without any deletion or insertion, and 8 were genotype C, presenting a total of 41 amino acid mutations and 2 amino acid deletions. 【Conclusion】 NAT, in combination of ELISA, provides additional safety in detecting potentially infectious HBV during the window period and occult HBV infection (OBI). The viral load was low in OBI infected donors, and anti-HBc+ was the main manifestation.The dominating HBV genotypes are genotype B and C, suggesting HBsAg amino acid mutations may be related to the formation of OBI.