Infectious Disease Marker Profile of Potential Matched Unrelated Donors for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in North India

Donor evaluation is a vital aspect of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), ensuring both donor suitability and recipient safety. Along with confirmatory human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, infectious disease marker (IDM) testing remains crucial. It helps prevent transmissible infections and improves the outcomes of HSCT. In India, while the trend of haploidentical (half-match) donors is increasing, matched unrelated donor (MUD) HSCT is still clinically relevant. However, to the best of our knowledge, no published Indian data exist on IDM profiles specifically for HSCT MUDs. We reviewed IDM testing results of 42 consecutive potential MUDs identified between May 2012 and December 2024 in Northern India. All donors provided written consent, and we collected anonymized data under ethical approval. The evaluation included enhanced chemiluminescence immunoassay (Vitros 3600, Quidel Ortho, United States) for anti-HIV I/II, anti-HCV, HBsAg, anti-HBc (total IgG + IgM), anti-CMV IgG and IgM, and syphilis testing; a malaria rapid detection test; and individual donor nucleic acid testing (ID-NAT, Procleix Ultrio Plus, Grifols) for HIV RNA, HBV DNA, and HCV RNA. All 42 potential MUDs tested negative for HIV, HBV, HCV, syphilis, and malaria, including NAT results. Importantly, all were positive for anti-CMV IgG while negative for IgM, as shown in [ Table 1 ]. This finding suggests prior CMV exposure, which is common in adult populations since CMV seroprevalence increases with age.[ 1 ] The mean age of donors in this study was 35.69 years. Table 1