SERUM ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE LEVEL IN RELATION TO HEPATITIS-B AND HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTIONS AMONG BLOOD-DONORS

To assess the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity in relatio n to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections am ong blood donors, antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were detected in 400 blood donors with normal ALT lev el (less than or equal to 750 mu mol/s per liter), and 76 blood donors with raised ALT level. The prevalence of anti-HCV (10.5%) and HBsAg ( 28.9%) in the latter was higher than that (2.0% and 17.5%, respectivel y) in the former (p<0.001 and p<0.03, respectively). There was a trend that indicated that the risk of anti-HCV positivity increased with in creasing age (p<0.001). Thirty of 76 (39.5%) donors with raised ALT le vel were positive for anti-HCV or HBsAg. Compared with HBsAg-positive donors, donors with anti-HCV had higher serum ALT levels (p<0.01) and greater mean age (p<0.01). Multivariate analysis indicated that both a nti-HCV (odds ratio: 6.2; 95% confidence interval: 2.2-17.8) and HBsAg (odds ratio: 2.2; 95% confidence interval: 1.3-3.9) were significantl y associated with raised serum ALT activity. The estimated population- attributable risk was 8.6% for anti-HCV, and 13.8% for HBsAg. In concl usion, although HBV and HCV infections are independent risk factors of raised ALT activity among blood donors, they play a minor role in the etiology of raised ALT activity.