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Sensitivity of an anti‐HCV core peptide ELISA
Author(s) -
Bresters D.,
Reesink H. W.,
Cuypers H. T. M.,
Jansen P. L. M.,
MauserBunschoten E. P.,
van der Poel C. L.,
Lelie P. N.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.1890370307
Subject(s) - virology , antibody , medicine , hepatitis c virus , viral disease , haemophilia , haemophilia a , recombinant dna , virus , immunology , biology , biochemistry , pediatrics , gene
A newly developed antibody assay based on a synthetic peptide of 15 amino acids derived from the core region of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome was evaluated in serum and plasma panels of (A) 225 haemophiliacs and (B) 44 patients with chronic non‐A, non‐B (NANB) hepatitis, and in (C) sequential serum samples of 9 patients with transfusion transmitted HCV infection. The new anti‐core peptide ELISA was compared with the anti‐C100 ELISA. For confirmation of HCV infection, samples were tested in a 4‐antigen recombinant immunoblot assay (4‐RIBA) and samples of panels B and C were also assayed in cDNA‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In two panels with a high prevalence of HCV infection (88.4 and 70.5% in haemophilia and NANB hepatitis patients, respectively), the sensitivity of the anti‐core peptide ELISA did not differ significantly from the sensitivity of the anti‐C100 ELISA. The sensitivity of the new assay as compared with the anti‐C100 assay was found to be 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78–0.89] versus 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87–0.95) in haemophilia patients and 0.71 (95% CI: 0.52–0.86) versus 0.84 (95% CI: 0.66–0.95) in NANB hepatitis patients. In sequential serum samples of patients with transfusion‐transmitted HCV infection antibodies to the core peptide (in 6/9 patients) appeared later than antibodies to C100 (in 7/9 patients): 168 (range: 70–322) and 143 (range: 59–365) days after transfusion, respectively. We conclude that although the experimental anti‐HCV assay is based on a single linear epitope from the HCV core region the assay is almost as sensitive for diagnosing HCV infection as the first‐generation anti‐C100 assay. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.