Serological Markers of Hepatitis B Virus in Blood donors in Alkhoms, Libya

Asmahan Muhammad Qanaw; Mustafa Muhammad Ali; Abdullah Muftah Al-Bakoush

doi:10.58916/jhas.v11i2.1195

Authors

Asmahan Muhammad Qanaw Department of Biology, College of Science, Al-Marqab University, Al-Khoms, Libya Author
Mustafa Muhammad Ali Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Asmariya University, Zliten, Libya Author
Abdullah Muftah Al-Bakoush Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Asmariya University, Zliten, Libya Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58916/jhas.v11i2.1195

Keywords:

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Surface Antigen (HBsAg),, Core Antibody (anti-HBc), Viral DNA (HBV-DNA), Blood Donors, Libya

Abstract

This study aimed to detect antibodies against the Hepatitis B virus core antigen (anti-HBc) among blood donors who tested negative for the Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and to verify the presence of viral DNA (HBV-DNA) in the positive samples. The study included 102 male donors from the blood bank at Souq Al-Khamis Hospital, Khoms, with ages ranging from 17 to 56 years. Samples were screened for anti-HBc using the Enzyme-Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA) technique, while the Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was employed for the detection of HBV-DNA. The results indicated that all samples were HBsAg-negative; however, three samples tested positive for anti-HBc. Among these, two samples were of the O+ blood group, and one was A+. No statistically significant differences were observed between the results and variables such as residence or blood group (P > 0.05). Furthermore, RT-PCR analysis identified one HBV-DNA positive sample, demonstrating a statistically significant correlation between the presence of anti-HBc and the detection of viral DNA.