Product Choice Affects Risk of False-Positive Hepatitis B Virus Serology During Immunoglobulin Replacement Therapy

Hannes Lindahl1,2, Anna-Carin Norlin1,3, Peter Bergman1,3,4

  • 1Department of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

PubMed

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core antigen antibodies passively transferred from immunoglobulin products used for replacement or immunomodulation may lead to unnecessary antiviral treatment for patients who are also starting immunosuppressive treatment. We have systematically assessed the contents of 93 commercial immunoglobulin batches and show that there are consistent product-specific differences in the levels of HBV core antigen antibodies and that choice of immunoglobulin product may have an impact on false-positivity rates.