ABO blood groups distribution in relation to hepatitis B surface antigen and the presence of lipoidophil antibodies.

Three hundred and thirty donors were screened for HBs Ag using direct passive haemagglutination and the presence of Lipoidophil antibodies as detected by VDRL test. Blood group O donors had the highest HBs Ag prevalence rate of 4.3% as against the 0% frequency for group AB donors. There were no significant association between ABO blood group distribution and the presence of HBs Ag (P greater than 0.05). 11 donors in all were positive for HBs Ag giving a total prevalence of 3.3%. The sera of 27 blood donors (8.2%) contained lipoidophil antibodies. The highest percentage of VDRL test positivity was in blood group B donors (22.7%) followed by group O (9.1%). None of the 6 group AB donors had a reactive sera. Test of significance showed that there was no association between ABO distribution and the presence of lipoidophil antibodies. In conclusion, it is stated that since none of the blood donors that was reactive to the VDRL reagin carried HBs Ag, hepatitis virus B unlike other viral infection, may not elicit the production of lipoidophil antibodies.