Katarína Kusendová, Peter Gavorník, Mária Szántová, Klára Sviteková
In an effort to minimalize the risk of hepatitis B and C virus transmission by haemotherapy, screening tests for viral antibodies, antigens and nucleic acids are being used in transfusion medicine. In 1986 the testing of alanine aminotransferase as a nonspecific marker of hepatitis C virus infection was established to eliminate the potentially infectious donors, as the virus was unidentified at that time. After its discovery and implementation of specific screening methods, the significance of alanine aminotransferase screening started to decline. In this review we present the significance of hepatic enzyme alanine aminotransferase in context of actual hepatitis B and C screening methods in donors from both theoretical and evidence-based medicine point of view.