Haemorrheologic and fibrinolytic activities of seropositive hepatitis B and C prospective donors attending University of Calabar Teaching Hospital bleeding bay

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate haemorrheologic and fibrinolytic activities of seropositive hepatitis prospective donors attending University of Calabar Teaching Hospital bleeding bay. A total of one hundred and fifty eight (158) prospective donors participated in the study. Seventy-four (74) subjects were seropositive for hepatitis B, sixteen (16) for hepatitis C, while sixty eight (68) who were seronegative for hepatitis served as control. Packed cell volume (PCV) and relative plasma viscosity (RPV) were used to assess rheology, while euglobulin clot lysis time (ELT) was used to assess fibrinolytic activity. Age range of participants was between 23 - 48 years.
Packed cell volume was performed on anticoagulated blood samples by microhaematocrit method; relative plasma viscosity was carried out using syringe viscometer, while euglobulin clot lysis time was performed on citrated plasma using acid precipitation method. There was a significant
reduction (p<0.05) in the PCV, RPV and ELT of 90 prospective donors, who were seropositive for hepatitis, when compared with control subjects. However, these parameters did not differ (p>0.05) when the comparison on the basis of sub-type of hepatitis B and C was made. This study concludes that haemorrheologic and fibrinolytic activities are altered in infectious hepatitis.

Keywords: Infectious hepatitis, rheology, fibrinolytic activity, blood