Cytokines profile in occult hepatitis B virus infections in blood donors at the National Blood Transfusion Center of Lomé, Togo

Aims: Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) was detected in blood donors at the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) of Lomé. This constitutes a risk of transmission of the OBI to transfused patients since the detection of this infection is not systematic. The aim of this study is to describe the profile of cytokines in blood donors with OBI at CNTS of Lomé in Togo. Methods: This is a prospective study during which the cytokines IL-6, TNFα, IL-5, IL-10, IL-17A, and IFNγ were measured by using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at two time points: initially (D0) in August 2022 and again seven months later (+7 months) in April 2023, in blood donors with occult hepatitis B infection. Results: At D0, the cytokine profile in sera of occult hepatitis B donors showed a significant reduced level of IL-6 (p=0.0009), TNFα (p=0.0025), IL-5 (p=0.0011), and IL-17A (p=0.0218) compared to non-occult hepatitis B donors. The inflammatory cytokine IFNγ and the regulatory cytokine IL-10 were also reduced but the differences were not significant. After seven months, the sera cytokine profile of occult hepatitis B donors had not changed, showing a significant reduced level of IL-6 (p=0.0005), TNFα (pgreater 0.0001), IL-5 (p=0.0234), and IL-17A (p greater 0.0001). We noticed especially for IL-17A, undetectable levels. Conclusion: Several authors have highlighted the presence of inflammatory cytokines in their studies; however, in our study, we noticed a downregulation or an absence of inflammatory cytokines in donors with occult hepatitis B.