ABSTRACT
The incidence of cytomegalovirus antibody positivity has been determined in populations of blood donors in centres in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. No difference in incidence was found. Rates of antibody detection increased from approximately 30% in younger donors to approximately 65% in donors between the ages of 56 and 65 years. No sex difference in incidence was observed. The implications for policies governing the supply of cytomegalovirus antibody-free blood for transfusion are discussed.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/analysis , Blood Transfusion , Cytomegalovirus Infections/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Cytomegalovirus Infections/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Immunoglobulin concentrates prepared from subjects of known HLA specificity were assayed for the presence of soluble HLA antigens by the inhibition of cytotoxic HLA alloantisera using a microabsorption procedure. The immunoglobulin preparations inhibited alloantisera of all specificities tested, regardless of the HLA type of the immunoglobulin donor, indicating that the observed inhibition was non-specific. Addition of extra complement reduced the inhibitory effects of the immunoglobulin concentrates. It is concluded that the inhibition of HLA alloantisera demonstrated by this technique is due to the anticomplementary activity of the immunoglobulin preparations, rather than their content of specific soluble HLA antigens.
