Investigation of the Prevalence of Human Parvovirus B19 DNA in Korean Plasmapheresis Donors / 대한진단검사의학회지

BACKGROUND: To ensure the safety of plasma derivatives, some countries have been screening for the human parvovirus B19 (B19V) antigen or DNA in blood donors. We investigated the prevalence of B19V DNA and anti-B19V antibodies in Korean plasmapheresis donors to evaluate the necessity of B19V DNA screening test. METHODS: Plasma samples were collected between March and July 2008 from 10,032 plasmapheresis donors. The B19V DNA test was performed using the LightCycler 2.0 (Roche, Germany) with quantification kits. Anti-B19V IgM and IgG were tested in 928 randomly selected samples from the 10,032 donors using recomWell Parvovirus B19 ELISA IgM, IgG assay (Mikrogen, Germany). RecomLine Parvovirus B19 LIA IgG, IgM assay (Mikrogen, Germany) was used to analyze the epitopes of antibodies in donors showing positive results for B19V DNA and anti-B19V antibodies. DNA sequencing was performed to identify the genotypes. RESULTS: The prevalence of B19V DNA was 0.1% (10/10,032). Virus titers in B19V DNA positive donors were less than 10(5) IU/mL (range: 2.7x10(1)-3.2x10(4) IU/mL) except for 1 donor (1.33x10(8) IU/mL). All the isolated B19V DNAs from 6 donors were identified as genotype I. Nine out of 10 B19V DNA positive donors also possessed anti-B19V IgG only or IgG and IgM. The prevalence of anti-B19V IgG was 60.1% (558/928). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of B19V DNA in Korean blood donors was not high and most donors also possessed neutralizing anti-B19V antibodies. Thus, the implementation of a B19V screening test for Korean blood donors does not appear to be imperative.

The Effects of Long-Term Plasmapheresis on Donors / 대한수혈학회지

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have demonstrated the well tolerance of intensive and long-term plasmapheresis in healthy donors, the effects on Korean donors have not been carefully investigated. Thirty donors were studied to investigate the effects of long-term plasmapheresis on Korean volunteer donors. METHODS: Thirty donors who had donated plasma regularly over a period of 3 years were selected. They were divided into group 1, 2 and 3 by the frequency of plasmapheresis per year and group A, B and C by the number of whole blood donations. Three of them had follow-up data at 7 days after. Whole blood was taken from the donors both before and after plasmapheresis by Fenwal Autopheresis-C system. Each sample was assayed for CBC, plasma total protein, albumin, IgG, IgA, IgM, ferritin and plasma hemoglobin. RESLUTS: For total protein, albumin, IgG, IgA and IgM, all the donors showed values in the normal range even with significant decreases after plasmapheresis. And there were no differences between groups. For ferritin, the mean values before and after plasmapheresis were 19.2 +/- 15.1 ng/mL and 17.8 +/- 15.2 ng/mL, respectively. In group 3 with highest frequency of plasmapheresis, the mean ferritin value was significantly lower than that of other groups as 7.3 +/- 5.0 (p<0.00.) Furthermore, the value was lower than 10 ng/mL which is the indicative value of iron depleted status. CONCLUSION: Long-term plasmapheresis donors had no significant changes in total protein, albumin, IgG, IgA and IgM. But they had mean ferritin values lower than the indicative value of iron depleted status. This implies that intensive and long-term plasmapheresis, might result iron depletion in donors. Consequently, a monitoring system to take care of regular plasmapheresis donation should be established.

Serologic Follow-up Survey of Hepatitis C Virus and Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Plasmapheresis Donors in Guan County / 中国输血杂志

An epidemic of hepatitis C virus occurred in plasmapheresis donors on Guan county in 1985. Early on 1986, there were investigated the state of hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus infection in plasmapheresis and whole blood donors from the villages with plasmapheresis donation in that year 1985, the villages with five-year plasmapheresis donation and the villages bacially without blood donation, then the follow-up survey of them was made in 1990. The positive rates of anti-HCV for plasmapheresis donors in 1986 and 1990 were 64.7% and 43.9% respectively. The positive rates of anti-HCV in the plasmapheresis donors with abnormal ALT were 77.5% and 81.1% and in the plasmapheresis donors with normal ALT were 51.3% and 34.3%. The positive rate for anti-HCV in plasmapheresis donors was higher than that in the whole blood donors and controls. It was proposed that the increasing of anti-HCV screening in blood supplying villages was imperative. In addition, the follow-up survey of 91 anti-HCV positive plasmapheresis donors was made in the fifth year since then, the rate at which the positive results turned to negative was 30.8%, about 70% cases turned out to chronic.