Utility of a commercial quantitative hepatitis C virus core antigen assay in a diagnostic laboratory setting
DIAGNOSTIC MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE, cilt.70, sa.4, ss.486-491, 2011 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 70 Sayı: 4
- Basım Tarihi: 2011
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2011.04.011
- Dergi Adı: DIAGNOSTIC MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.486-491
- Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
In this study, the utility and impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen (Cag) detection via a commercial assay have been evaluated in diagnostic laboratory conditions. In a total of 272 samples from 226 individuals, HCV RNA was detected in 81.3% and anti-HCV antibody prevalence was 86.4%. HCV Cag reactivity was identified in 59.9% of the samples and in 75.8% with detectable RNA. The sensitivity and specificity of HCV Cag assay have been calculated as 75.8% and 95.1%, respectively, and agreement between HCV RNA and HCV Cag was moderate (kappa = 0.554). HCV Cag and RNA levels were highly correlated (r = 0.915 and 0.937). A viral load threshold of 10(3) IU/mL has been recognized, above which the correlation with RNA became statistically significant and sensitivity increased to 90.9%. Detection and quantification of HCV core antigen have been observed as a strong alternative to nucleic acid testing for HCV monitorization. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.