Variability of parvovirus B19 to inactivation by liquid heating in plasma products.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previously, we reported that although human parvovirus B19 in albumin and intravenous immunoglobulin preparations was rapidly inactivated during liquid heating, in contrast to other parvoviruses such as canine parvovirus, sensitivity to heat was highly dependent on the composition of the solution. In this study, we aimed to further elucidate the sensitivity to heat of B19 in haptoglobin and antithrombin (previously named antithrombin III) preparations during liquid heating.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two different solutions collected immediately before heat treatment of haptoglobin and antithrombin preparations were spiked with B19 and subsequently treated at 60 degrees C for 10 h. B19 DNA-positive, anti-B19 IgG/IgM-negative plasma was used as a source of B19. The residual infectivity in each sample was measured using a B19 cell-based infectivity assay with an mRNA polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS: B19 in different plasma preparations showed different heat-sensitivity patterns during liquid heating: (i) slow inactivation in haptoglobin preparations, and (ii) only limited inactivation in antithrombin preparations. The kinetics of inactivation was greatly different from that in our previous studies in which the virus was shown to be rapidly inactivated in albumin and intravenous immunoglobulin preparations.

CONCLUSION: B19 has unique properties in terms of heat sensitivity, depending on the composition of the solution during liquid heating. This finding may indicate the need for caution when interpreting the sensitivity of B19 to heat.