RESUMEN
ObjectiveTo discuss the relationship between the cross-reactivity of antibody against the hypervariable region 1 ( HVR1 ) of hepatitis C virus and early viral response ( EVR ) in patients undergoing antiviral therapy.MethodsBy ELISA and HCV HVR1 antibody cross-reactivity matrix reagent,the differences of anti-HCV hypervariable region antibody were tested in baseline serum from 46 patients with chronic hepatitis C before antiviral therapy.HCV genotyping and HCV RNA were analyzed by RT-PCR method.The HCV RNA assay was done at three time points:before treatment,pegylated interferon in combination with ribavirin therapy for 12 and 48 weeks.ResultsIn 46 cases of chronic hepatitis C patients,there were 16 cases with HCV 2a type,30 cases with l b and 33 patients obtained EVR.The EVR incidence of type 2a[ 93.8％ ( 15/16 ) ] was higher than that of type 1 b[ 60.0％ (18/30),x2 =4.316,P ＜ 0.05 ].In the EVR group of type 1b chronic hepatitis C patients,the positive number of average multi-target HVR1 antigen was ( 12 ± 4),which was significantly higher than that in the Non-EVR patients [ (7 ± 5 ),t =2.797,P ＜0.01 ].Bv the Fisher exact test,it was showed that patients'serum response to HVR1 antigens numbered 001,003,009,013,016 were higher in EVR group than those in non-EVR group,with statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionThe cross-reactivity of HVR1 antibody may play an important role in predicting the effectiveness of antiviral therapy.