OBJECTIVE: To study the results, re-donation situation and characteristics of single-reagent reactive blood donors who were put into the reentry strategy in Wuhan area, explore the rationality and effectiveness of the current reentry strategy, and provide data support for the improvement of the reentry process of blood donors. METHODS: From January 2020 to December 2023, blood donors who conform the reentry criteria and voluntarily applied for returning to Wuhan Blood Center were tested and the results were analyzed. According to the reentry strategy, serological testing and nucleic acid testing were carried out in parallel, serological testing was performed by ELISA with reagents from two different manufacturers, and the primary reactive samples were tested by double-well retest, and HBV/HCV/HIV nucleic acid detection was performed by RT-PCR with an individual donor test mode. Supplementary HBcAb testing was applied for HBV single reagent reactivity by chemiluminescence method. Supplementary TP-WB testing was applied for returning blood donors with repeated TP single reagent reactivity. If returning blood donors with HIV single reagent reactivity were repeated single reagent reactivity, the samples were sent to local CDC for confirmatory test. RESULTS: 7 098 blood donors were qualified for reentry, 716 donors voluntarily applied for reentry, 436 donors successfully reentry, 251 donors entered the next round, 29 donors could not reentry. The reentry rates for the past four years were 66.67%（42/63）, 54.73%（81/148）, 60.71%（136/224） and 62.99%（177/281）, respectively. Up to December 31, 2023, 275 donors donated blood again, and the donation rates for past four years were 76.19%（32/42）, 72.84%（59/81）, 61.76%（84/136） and 56.50%（100/177）, respectively. After donating blood, 31 donors were disqualified again by blood screening and subjected to permanent deferral. The results of returning to the team had statistical differences in reentry items, educational level, age, and marriage（P < 0.05）. CONCLUSION The current reentry strategy adopted by the blood donation and supply institution can effectively retain part of blood donors, reduce the negative emotions of blood donors and increase blood resources.
Humans ; Blood Donors ; China ; Hepatitis B ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatitis C ; Male

OBJECTIVE: To investigate chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection's effect on gestational liver function, pregnancy and delivery complications, and neonatal development. METHODS: A total of 157 HCV antibody-positive (anti-HCV[+]) and HCV RNA(+) patients (Group C) and 121 anti-HCV(+) and HCV RNA(-) patients (Group B) were included as study participants, while 142 anti-HCV(-) and HCV RNA(-) patients (Group A) were the control group. Data on biochemical indices during pregnancy, pregnancy complications, delivery-related information, and neonatal complications were also collected. RESULTS: Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) rates in Group C during early, middle, and late pregnancy were 59.87%, 43.95%, and 42.04%, respectively-significantly higher than Groups B (26.45%, 15.70%, 10.74%) and A (23.94%, 19.01%, 6.34%) ( P < 0.05). Median ALT levels in Group C were significantly higher than in Groups A and B at all pregnancy stages ( P < 0.05). No significant differences were found in neonatal malformation rates across groups ( P > 0.05). However, neonatal jaundice incidence was significantly greater in Group C (75.16%) compared to Groups A (42.25%) and B (57.02%) ( χ ² = 33.552, P < 0.001). HCV RNA positivity during pregnancy was an independent risk factor for neonatal jaundice ( OR = 2.111, 95% CI 1.242-3.588, P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Chronic HCV infection can affect the liver function of pregnant women, but does not increase the pregnancy or delivery complication risks. HCV RNA(+) is an independent risk factor for neonatal jaundice.
Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Adult ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Infant, Newborn ; Viremia/virology* ; Hepatitis C ; Hepacivirus/physiology* ; Hepatitis C, Chronic/virology* ; Young Adult ; Alanine Transaminase/blood*

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of the simultaneous detection of HIV-1 RNA, HIV-1 DNA, and HCV RNA using one dried blood spot (DBS) as an alternative sample to plasma. Method: A total of 571 paired DBS/plasma samples were collected from men who have sex with men (MSM) and injection drug users (IDUs), and serological and molecular assays were performed. Using plasma results as the reference standard, the performance of DBS tests for HIV-1 RNA, HIV-1 DNA, and HCV RNA was evaluated. Pearson's correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman analysis were performed to assess the correlation and concordance between DBS and plasma. Results: Among paired plasma/DBS samples with detectable HIV-1 RNA and HCV RNA, five samples (5/32) were not detectable in DBS, while measurable HIV-1 RNA levels were present in plasma (1.44 to 3.99 log Conclusion The performance of the simultaneous detection of HIV-1 RNA, HIV-1 DNA, and HCV RNA using one DBS was acceptable. DBS, as an alternative sample to plasma, may be a viable option for the simultaneous detection of HIV-1 RNA, HIV-1 DNA, and HCV RNA in resource-limited settings or for individuals living in areas that are difficult to access.
DNA, Viral/analysis* ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine/methods* ; Dried Blood Spot Testing/methods* ; HIV Infections/diagnosis* ; HIV-1/isolation & purification* ; Hepacivirus/isolation & purification* ; Hepatitis C/diagnosis* ; RNA, Viral/analysis* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Specimen Handling/methods* ; Syphilis/diagnosis* ; Treponema pallidum/isolation & purification*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of local application of tranexamic acid (TXA) in reducing perioperative blood loss in total hip arthroplasty via direct anterior approach (DAA). METHODS: From July 2013 to September 2018, 46 patients with avascular necrosis of the femoral head were divided into tranexamic acid group ( RESULTS: The incision healed well and no obvious complications occurred in the two groups. All patients were followed up for 12 to 59 months(averaged 31.11 months). No hip pain was found in the follow-up patients. Hip joint function was improved effectively and no prosthesis loosening occurred. The total perioperative blood loss in tranexamic acid group and normal saline group was(740.09±77.14) ml and (1 069.07±113.53) ml respectively, 24 hours after operation, the drainage volume was (87.61±9.28) ml, (233.83±25.62) ml, the hidden blood loss was (409.65±38.01) ml and (588.33±57.16) ml. the difference of hemoglobin before and after operation was (24.78±2.19) g / L and (33.57±2.95) g / L, the difference was statistically significant ( CONCLUSION local application of tranexamic acid in total hip arthroplasty through direct anterior approach can safely and effectively reduce perioperative blood loss, and does not increase the risk of thrombosis, and does not affect the normal recovery of joint function.
Aged ; Antifibrinolytic Agents/therapeutic use* ; Antiviral Agents ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip/adverse effects* ; Blood Loss, Surgical/prevention & control* ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Safety ; Tranexamic Acid/therapeutic use* ; Treatment Outcome

Hepatitis B virus core protein can self-assemble into icosahedral symmetrical viral-like particles (VLPs) in vitro, and display exogenous sequences repeatedly and densely on the surface. VLPs also have strong immunogenicity and biological activity. When the nanoparticles enter the body, they quickly induce specific humoral and cellular immune responses to exogenous antigens. In this study, we designed an HBc-VLPs that can be coupled with antigens at specific sites, and developed a set of efficient methods to prepare HBc-VLPs. Through site-specific mutation technology, the 80th amino acid of peptide was changed from Ala to Cys, a specific cross-linking site was inserted into the main immunodominant region of HBc-VLPs, and the prokaryotic expression vector pET28a(+)-hbc was constructed. After expression and purification, high purity HBc(A80C) monomer protein was assembled into HBc-VLPs nanoparticles in Phosphate Buffer. The results of particle size analysis show that the average particle size of nanoparticles was 29.8 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that HBc-VLPs formed spherical particles with a particle size of about 30 nm, and its morphology was similar to that of natural HBV particles. The influenza virus antigen M2e peptide as model antigen was connected to Cys residue of HBc-VLPs by Sulfo-SMCC, an amino sulfhydryl bifunctional cross-linking agent, and M2e-HBc-VLPs model vaccine was prepared. The integrity of HBc-VLPs structure and the correct cross-linking of M2e were verified by cell fluorescence tracing. Animal immune experiments showed that the vaccine can effectively stimulate the production of antigen-specific IgG antibody in mice, which verified the effectiveness of the vaccine carrier HBc-VLPs. This study lays a foundation for the research of HBc-VLPs as vaccine vector, and help to promote the development of HBc-VLPs vaccine and the application of HBc-VLPs in other fields.
Animals ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; genetics ; immunology ; Immunity, Cellular ; immunology ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle ; genetics ; immunology

Blood Donors ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C ; Humans ; Interferons ; Interleukins ; Prevalence

INTRODUCTION: To study the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in blood donor (BD), haemodialysis (HD) and intravenous drug user (IVDU) populations in Singapore and assess the IL28B polymorphism if HCV positive. METHODS: The BD population were healthy volunteers, the HD population were patients who were on haemodialysis for at least six months of follow-up between January 2009 and December 2014. IVDU population was from inmates at halfway houses who consented. RESULTS: Between 2011 and 2014, of 161,658 individuals who underwent screening prior to blood donation, 95 (0.059%) were positive for HCV. Of the 42 sera available, common genotypes (GTs) were GT-3 (47.6%) and GT-1 (31.0%). Of 1,575 HD patients, 2.2% were anti-HCV positive. The HCV GT distribution was HCV GT-1 (32.4%), HCV GT-3 (20.5%) and GT-6 (8.8%). 83 halfway house inmates were screened. Of the 47 IVDUs, 36.2% were anti-HCV positive with predominant GT-3 (%). IL28B polymorphism was noted to be CC predominantly 85.3%. CONCLUSION Prevalence of HCV infection has decreased in both the BD and HD populations. However, it remains high in the IVDU population. GT-1 remains the most common in the HD population; however, GT-3 infection is now more common among the BD population in Singapore. IL28B - CC is the predominant variant among the HCV-infected individuals in Singapore.
Acute Kidney Injury ; blood ; complications ; Adult ; Alleles ; Blood Donors ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis C ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Interleukins ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prevalence ; Renal Dialysis ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Substance Abuse, Intravenous ; blood ; epidemiology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis evaluation is an important issue in chronic liver disease patients. We aimed to develop noninvasive liver fibrosis biomarkers based on transient elastography (TE, FibroScan®) through retrospective review of clinicopathological data. METHODS: We recruited 278 chronic hepatitis B patients who underwent Fibroscan and HBV DNA testing. A total of 115 HBeAg-positive and 159 HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients were analyzed. A total of 100 hepatitis C patients were analyzed. Successful fibroscan data, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) to platelet ratio (GPR), platelet count, AST, ALT, international normalized ratio of prothrombin time, total cholesterol, triglycerides, bilirubin, mean platelet volume, AST to platelet ratio index, fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB-4), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and NLR to platelet ratio were analyzed to determine the new noninvasive markers for assessing liver fibrosis. RESULTS: Elevated GPR (OR=9.1, P=0.011) and FIB-4 (OR=2.3, P=0.01) were associated with greater risk of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B patients. FIB-4 (OR=6.04, P=0.005) was a risk factor for liver fibrosis in HBeAg-positive patients. FIB-4 (OR=2.371, P=0.015) and GPR (OR=33.78, P=0.003) were liver fibrosis risk factor in HBeAg-negative patients. In chronic hepatitis C patients, GGT (OR=1.033, P=0.002), triglyceride (OR=−0.990, P=0.038) and FIB-4 (OR=3.499, P=0.006) showed statistical significances. The AUCs were 0.816 in FIB-4 (P<0.001) and 0.849 in GPR (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: FIB-4 and GPR may be useful blood markers for assessing liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C patients. Further well-designed prospective study is required to validate these noninvasive blood markers in clinical practice.
Area Under Curve ; Bilirubin ; Biomarkers ; Blood Platelets ; Cholesterol ; DNA ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Fibrosis ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Hepatitis C ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; International Normalized Ratio ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Liver ; Lymphocytes ; Mean Platelet Volume ; Neutrophils ; Platelet Count ; Prospective Studies ; Prothrombin Time ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Transferases ; Triglycerides

BACKGROUND/AIMS: An estimated 80 million people worldwide are infected with viremic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Even after eradication of HCV with direct acting antivirals (DAAs), hepatic fibrosis remains a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis. Recently, we confirmed the applicability of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) as a serum biomarker for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of MFAP4 as a biomarker of liver fibrosis after HCV eliminating therapy with DAAs. METHODS: MFAP4 was measured using an immunoassay in 50 hepatitis C patients at baseline (BL), the end-of-therapy (EoT), and the 12-week follow-up (FU) visit. Changes in MFAP4 from BL to FU and their association with laboratory parameters including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), platelets, the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4), and albumin were analyzed. RESULTS: MFAP4 serum levels were representative of the severity of hepatic fibrosis at BL and correlated well with laboratory parameters, especially APRI (Spearman correlation, R²=0.80). Laboratory parameters decreased significantly from BL to EoT. MFAP4 serum levels were found to decrease from BL and EoT to FU with high statistical significance (Wilcoxon p<0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that viral eradication resulted in reduced MFAP4 serum levels, presumably representing a decrease in hepatic fibrogenesis or fibrosis. Hence, MFAP4 may be a useful tool for risk assessment in hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis after eradication of the virus.
Alanine Transaminase ; Antiviral Agents ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Biomarkers ; Blood Platelets ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; Fibrosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Patients with Hansen’s disease are the most vulnerable to hepatitis C. However, no data on the treatment efficacy of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are available in this group. Therefore, we elucidated the prevalence and clinical outcomes of hepatitis C in persons affected by leprosy in Sorokdo, Jeollanam-do, Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively included 50 leprosy patients with positive hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA test results (group A) hospitalized at the Sorokdo National Hospital from May 2016 to March 2018 and 73 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were treated with DAAs at the Chonnam National University Hospital (group B) from May 2016 to December 2017. RESULTS: Overall, at the Sorokdo National Hospital, positive HCV antibody and HCV RNA rates were 18.4% and 11.0%, respectively. The mean participant age was 76.5±7 years, and 58% of participants were men. The genotypes were type 1b in 44% (22 out of 50) and type 2 in 56% (28 out of 50). Sustained virologic response was achieved at a rate of 95.5% (21/22) in genotype 1b and 92.9% (26/28) in genotype 2 patients. Ribavirin-induced hemolytic anemia occurred in 57.1% (16/28) of patients with genotype 2. Among these, 28.5% (8/28) received blood transfusions. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment efficacy was not different between the leprosy-affected population and the general population. However, severe ribavirin-induced hemolytic anemia requiring transfusion was present in 28.5% of genotype 2 patients. Therefore, we suggest ribavirin-free DAAs for the treatment of genotype 2 hepatitis C in leprosy-affected persons in the future.
Anemia, Hemolytic ; Antiviral Agents ; Blood Transfusion ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Leprosy ; Male ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA ; Treatment Outcome