Australia Antigen: Distribution during Cohn Ethanol Fractionation of Human Plasma

Abstract

When plasma containing a hepatitis-associated antigen (Au/SH) is fractionated, the antigen is localized in fractions III and IV with none in fraction II and only small amounts in fractions I and V. The amount of antigen found in each of these fractions is probably not predictive of clinical infectivity of Cohn ethanol fractions from normnal pooled plasna.

Removal and Inactivation of Hepatitis B Virus from Contaminated Pooled Plasma in a Large–Scale Manufacturing Process for Factor VIII and Human Serum Albumin

“…Although P IV–1 was not tested for HBsAg because no sample had been retained, the above results correlate with the reports by Schroeder et al [9], Berg et al [10]and Trepo et al [11]. More interestingly, distribution of Dane particles in F I, F III and F IV, as reported by Trepo [11], correlated well with the distribution of HBV DNA by PCR as described (fig.…”

“…On the other hand, 2×10 5 copies/g HBV DNA were found in P II+III, which is raw material for globulin preparation [9, 10, 11]. …”

The Prevalence of Australia Antigen and Antibody in Haemophilia

“…Our results in respect of anti-Au(l) are, however, quite different. For instance, in environments with low Au(l) incidence both in the general population and among blood donors [16], anti-Au(l) has been reported in 29% of haemophiliacs (8 out of 28 patients), 28.6% (2 out of 7), 33% (7 out of 21), 13% (5 out of 39), and 17% (8 out of 48 patients) [7,12,18]. Our results cannot wholly be ex plained on the basis of our relatively small number of patients since the antigen is more than 60 times as frequent among our blood donors as among those in the populations where these other data were collected.…”

“…The various modifications of the original procedure have made cryoprecipitate readily available in most countries. However, the discovery of Australia antigen (Au(l)) by Blumberg [2], its subsequent specific association with viral hepatitis [3,9], its presence in plasma, cryoprecipitate and other plasma fractions [18,22] and its correlation with disease and infectivity of blood donors [7,8,12] introduced a new element of complexity into the management of haemo philia. In areas with low Au(l) incidence in the 'normal' population and among volunteer blood donors, for example, 0.1%> in New York City do nors [16], the existence of this antigen does not constitute a serious prob lem.…”

Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment of pregnant patients with unexplained recurrent abortions

“…No case of hepatitis B has been attributed to i.v. immunoglobulin administration in the USA (Schoreder and Mozen, 1970;Zuck et al, 1986). It is well accepted that immunoglobulin preparations do not transmit hepatitis C (Finlayson, 1988).…”