Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Core Antigen Assay to Detect Ongoing HCV Infection in Thai Injection Drug Users

• Main Authors: Netski D.M., Wang X.-H., Mehta S.H., Nelson K., Celentano D., Thongsawat S., Maneekarn N., Suriyanon V., Jittiwutikorn J., Thomas D.L., Ticehurst J.R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-11844255837&partnerID=40&md5=819049ba37485d39d93d6c3c894f38ce; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/4223
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

We evaluated a quantitative enzyme immunoassay (trak-C) for hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCV core Ag) by testing serum specimens from 820 injection drug users in Thailand with anti-HCV antibodies. The HCV genotypes in this population include genotypes 3 and 6, which have not been extensively tested with this assay. Among these specimens, 629 (76.7%) yielded positive results, with HCV core Ag concentrations predominantly spanning (35.7%) or above (58.2%) the measurable range of 1.5 to 100 pg/ml. To assess reproducibility, we retested 30 specimens representing six core Ag ranges; the mean coefficient of variation for each range was ≤9.7% (highest for 1.5 to 25 pg/ml). We also tested 204 specimens of the 820-specimen set for HCV RNA: while 146 (71.6%) were core Ag positive, 168 (82.4%) had detectable HCV RNA, of which 96% were typeable as genotype 3 (39%), 1 (31%), or 6 (26%) by nested reverse transcription-PCR. Among RNA-positive specimens, 86.9% had core Ag; 94% of the RNA negatives were core Ag negative. While there was no apparent bias for detecting core Ag representing the tested genotypes, median quantified results were higher for types 1a and 6 than for genotype 3 (P = 0.01); similarly, the median core Ag concentration was higher in HCV-human immunodeficiency virus-coinfected subjects than in HCV-monoinfected subjects. Our results demonstrated a good correlation between core Ag and HCV RNA in this population with high frequencies of genotypes 3 and 6. Because most core Ag concentrations were greater than those in the measurable range, we recommend a 10-fold dilution of the specimen before quantification. Reproducibility, low technical requirements, and high throughput should make this assay useful for clinical or research monitoring of HCV levels during active infection.