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Quantitative analysis of antibodies to hepatitis C virus during interferon‐α therapy
Author(s) -
Yuki Nobukazu,
Hayashi Norio,
Hagiwara Hideki,
Takehara Tetsuo,
Katayama Kazuhiro,
Kasahara Akinori,
Fusamoto Hideyuki,
Kamada Takenobu
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840170603
Subject(s) - antibody , virus , virology , hepatitis c virus , medicine , viremia , interferon , hepatitis , immunology
We quantified IgG antibodies to structural (core) and nonstructural (C100‐3) hepatitis C virus proteins in 42 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with a 6‐mo course of interferon‐α Sera were drawn before and at the end of therapy and also 6 mo after therapy withdrawal; they were stored for later analysis of antibodies and serum hepatitis C virus RNA. Sustained virus clearance was observed at the end of therapy and 6 mo after therapy withdrawal in nine cases; it was accompanied with sustained reductions of antibody to hepatitis C virus core protein and antibody to C 100‐3 protein. A sustained reduction of antibody to hepatitis C virus core protein was specific to sustained virus clearance, although that of antibody to C 100‐3 protein was not. None of the patients who did not show reductions of levels of both antibodies at the end of therapy displayed sustained virus clearance. Five patients showed hepatitis C virus RNA negativity and normal aminotransferase levels at the end of therapy without reduction of antibody to hepatitis C virus core protein levels. Of these five patients, relapse of hepatitis occurred in four, and viremia was present 6 mo after therapy withdrawal in all cases. These results demonstrate that testing for antibody titers may add information for evaluating virus clearance after interferon therapy. (H EPATOLOGY 1993;17:960–965.)