ABSTRACT
Objective To develop the technique to detect total core antigen of HCV(Total HCV-cAg) by Enzyme-Linked Immu-nosorbent Assay (ELISA) and apply it for clinical diagnosis. Methods 201 serum samples with anti-HCV antibody were detected total HCV-cAg after pre - treating the samples, then the sensitivity of results were compared with HCV RNA tests. Among them, 176 cases was determined by FQ-PCR, and 25 cases by RT-PCR for HCV-RNA. Results HCV RNA was found in sera from 88 of 201 samples (43.8%). Total HCV-cAg was positive in 71 (35.3%) of 201 samples . There was no significant difference between the detection rate of HCV RNA by PCR and total HCV-cAg by ELISA. Conclusion Detection of total core antigen of HCV is suitable to be used as to diagnose HCV in clinic.