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
in English
| LILACS
| ID: biblio-1155541
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.
Full text:
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Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Hepatitis C
/
Hepacivirus
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop
Journal subject:
Tropical Medicine
Year:
2021
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
India
Institution/Affiliation country:
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham/IN
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