Summary
Anti-hepatitis C virus antibody screening of blood donors in different countries revealed prevalences ranging from 0,4–1,4%. These results were obtained with an enzyme immunoassay based on a recombinant hepatitis C virus antigen. We applied a specific inhibition assay (neutralization assay) and a recombinant immunoblot assay to determine the specificity of positive reactions in the enzyme immunoassay.
Of 2836 blood donor sera tested, 10 (0,35%) were reactive in the enzyme immunoassay, however, only 3 sera (0,1%) proved to be specifically anti-HCV positive in the inhibition assay. The recombinant immunoblot assay gave similar results. The prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies among blood donors has been overestimated in recent publications. Furthermore the high rate of false positives in the enzyme immunoassay may explain reports claiming that only a minor part of EIA positive blood units transmitted the hepatitis C virus to recipients.
The inhibition assay was also applied to sera of haemophiliacs and of patients with hepatopathy which had reacted positively in the anti-hepatitis C virus antibody enzyme immunoassay. The antihepatitis C virus specificity was confirmed for all sera from the haemophiliacs group (100%) and for 77% of the hepatopathy patients group. Thus, the anti-hepatitis C virus enzyme immunoassay has a high predictive value when it is used to screen groups with high risks of parenteral hepatitis C virus infection, however, its predictive value is very low when it is used for blood donor screening.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- EIA:
-
enzyme immunoassay
- HCV:
-
hepatitis C virus
- RIBA:
-
recombinant immunoblot assay
- SOD:
-
superoxide dismutase
References
Choo Q-L, Weiner AJ, Overby LRl, Kuo G, Houghton M (1990) Hepatitis C virus: The major causative agent for viral non-A, nonA, hepatitis. Brit Med Bull 46:423–441
Dawson GJ, Sarin V, Leung T, Devare S, Desai S, Casey J, Rote K, Robey WG, Boardway KA, Gutierrez RA, Petersen DA, Lesmiewski RR (1990) Alternate assay configurations for detection of anti-HCV. Präsentation auf dem VIII. Internationalen Kongreß für Virologie August 1990, Berlin
Garson JA, Tedder RS, Briggs M, Tuke P, Glazerbrook JA, Trute A, Parker D, Barbara JAJ, Contreras M, Aloysius S (1990) Detection of hepatitis C viral sequences in blood donations by “nested” polymerase chain reaction and prediction of infectivity. Lancet 335:1419–1422
Ikeda Y, Toda G, Hashimoto N, Kurokawa K (1990) Antibody to Superoxide dismutase, autoimmune hepatitis, and antibody tests for hepatitis C virus. Lancet 335:1345–1346
Kato N, Yokosuka O, Hosoda K, Ohto M (1990) Detection of Hepatitis C Virus Ribonucleic Acid in the Serum by Amplification with Polymerase Chain Reaction. J Clin Invest 86:1764–1767
Kühnl P, Seidl S, Stangel W, Beyer J, Sibrowski W, Flik J (1989) Antibody to Hepatitis C Virus in German Blood Donors. Lancet II:324 (August 5)
Kuo G, Choo Q-L, Alter HJ, Gitnick GL, Redeker AG, Purcell RH, Miyamura T, Dienstag JL, Alter MJ, Stevens CE, Tegtmeier GE, Bonino F, Colombo M, Lee W-S, Kuo C, Berger K, Shuster JR, Overby L-R, Bradley DW, Houghton M (1989) An assay for circulating antibodies to a major etiologic virus of human non-A, non-B hepatitis. Science 244:362–364
Menitove JE, Richards WA, Destree M (1990) Early US experience with anti-HCV kit in blood donors. Lancet 336:244–245
Van der Poel CL, Reesink HW, Schaasberg W, Leentvaar-Kuypers A, Bakker E, Exel-Oehlers PJ, Lelie PN (1990) Infectivity of blood seropositive for hepatitis C virus antibodies. Lancet 335:558–560
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prohaska, W., Wolff, C., Lechler, E. et al. High rate of false positives in blood donor screening for antibodies to hepatitis C virus. Klin Wochenschr 69, 294–296 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01644759
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01644759