Usefulness of Track-C (Total HCV Core Antigen) Assays in Anti-HCV Positive Patients / 대한진단검사의학회지
The Korean Journal of Laboratory Medicine
;
: 244-249, 2004.
Article
in Korean
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-71938
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Virologic diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is based on the use of sero-logic assays detecting specific anti-HCV antibodies, and then definitive diagnosis is made by detecting HCV RNA. Recently, newly developed Track-C (total HCV core antigen) test using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) can detect and quantify total HCV core antigen in the peripheral blood of HCV-infected patients. In this study, the usefulness of Track-C test for the detection of HCV viremia was investigated by comparing the results with those of the HCV RNA test.METHODS:
The study group consisted of 159 sera including 72 anti-HCV positive sera. The Track-C test was performed by enzyme immunoassay (Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, USA) with pretreatment for the dissociation of antigen-antibody complex. HCV RNA test was performed by HCV in house RT-nested PCR method. Results were calculated for the sensitivity, specificity and efficiency by comparing to each other.RESULTS:
The efficiency between HCV RNA and Track-C was 77.4% for the 72 anti-HCV positivesera. Comparing with the results of HCV RNA, Track-C assay showed the sensitivity and specificity of 56.0% and 96.4%, respectively. Track-C assay demonstrated a relatively good linearity (R2=0.9836) and reproducibility (CV=4.4%) at high concentrations.CONCLUSIONS:
Although the sensitivity of Track-C assay was not as high as that of HCV RT-PCR, a positive Track-C assay suggests the presence of HCV viremia, especially at higher concentrations. Track-C assay, therefore, may be used as a simple and supplementary test for HCV viremia and for follow-up monitoring.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Viremia
/
RNA
/
Polymerase Chain Reaction
/
Follow-Up Studies
/
Immunoenzyme Techniques
/
Sensitivity and Specificity
/
Hepacivirus
/
Hepatitis C Antibodies
/
Diagnosis
/
Antigen-Antibody Complex
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
Korean
Journal:
The Korean Journal of Laboratory Medicine
Year:
2004
Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS