Improving Diagnosis of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Using Hepatitis C Core Antigen Testing in a Resource-Poor Setting
Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop
; 54: e02532020, 2021. tab
Article
ي En
| LILACS
| ID: biblio-1155541
المكتبة المسؤولة:
BR1.1
ABSTRACT
Abstract INTRODUCTION:
We compared the hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen test with the HCV RNA assay to confirm anti-HCV results to determine whether the HCV core antigen test could be used as an alternative confirmatory test to the HCV RNA test.METHODS:
Sera from 156 patients were analyzed for anti-HCV and HCV core antigen using a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (Architect i2000SR) and for HCV RNA using the artus HCV RG RT-PCR Kit (QIAGEN) in a Rotor-Gene Q instrument.RESULTS:
The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the HCV core antigen assay compared to the HCV RNA test were 77.35%, 100%, 100%, and 89.38%, respectively. HCV core antigen levels showed a good correlation with those from HCV RNA quantification (r =0.872). However, 13 samples with a viral load of less than 4000 IU/mL were negative in the HCV core antigen assay. All gray-zone reactive samples were also RNA positive and were positive on repeat testing.CONCLUSIONS:
The Architect HCV core antigen assay is highly specific and has an excellent positive predictive value. At the present level of sensitivity (77%), the study is still relevant in a low-income setting in which most of the HCV-positive patients would go undiagnosed, since HCV RNA testing is not available and/or not affordable. HCV core antigen testing can also help determine the true burden of infection in a population, considering the fact that almost 50% of the anti-HCV positive cases are negative for HCV RNA.Key words
النص الكامل:
1
الفهرس:
LILACS
الموضوع الرئيسي:
Hepatitis C
/
Hepacivirus
نوع الدراسة:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
المحددات:
Humans
اللغة:
En
مجلة:
Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop
موضوع المجلة:
MEDICINA TROPICAL
السنة:
2021
نوع:
Article