TT virus among blood donors in Alexandria

TTV is a non enveloped, single-stranded, circular- DNA virus that has been assigned to the Family Circiniviridae. The primary mode of TTV transmission was proposed to be transfusion (and hence its name). Little is known about the clinical significance and the natural history of TTV infection. Hence, responsibility of the virus for specific liver disease is still debated. In our study, we tested ninety five blood donors attending Kom EL-Decka regional blood bank in Alexandria for the presence of TTV DNA in their sera by PCR technique. The same samples were tested for ALT and AST levels by colorimetric technique and for HBsAg and anti-HCV by the ELISA technique. Out of the 95 blood donors, 46 (48.4%) had TTV DNA in their sera. None of the 95 blood donors included in this study was positive for HBsAg, while 22 (23.2%) were anti-HCV positive. Out of the 22 anti-HCV positive blood donors, 13 (59.1%) were TTV DNA positive, while out of the 73 anti-HCV negative blood donors, 33 (45.2%) had TTV DNA in their sera. There was no statistically significant difference between the prevalence of TTV DNA and anti-HCV in blood donors. No biochemical evidence of liver disease potentially linked to the TTV infection was observed in our blood donors who were TTV DNA positive. Furthermore, the occurrence of elevated serum AST and ALT was most often linked to HCV rather than TTV.