Evaluation of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Analysis by Anti-HCV and HCV Core Antigen Assays
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Abstract
Anti-HCV test is wildly used for screening of hepatitis C virus infection. The signal-to-cutoff (S/CO) ratio can be used to interpret hepatitis C virus infection; above a certain S/CO ratio value. However, it is likely to be a false positive. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal anti-HCV signal-to-cutoff (S/CO) ratio and to evaluate the agreement between the HCV core Ag and HCV RNA. The total of 169 leftover serum/plasma samples from anti-HCV screening (chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay, CMIA) were obtained from Thammasat University hospital. These samples were tested for HCV core Ag and HCV RNA (real-time RT-PCR). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to determine the optimal signal-to-cutoff (S/CO) ratio by using HCV RNA for defending hepatitis C virus infection. Cohen's kappa coefficient was used to evaluate the agreement between the HCV core Ag and HCV RNA. The ROC curves analysis showed that the cutoff point of anti-HCV S/CO ratio was 5.4 (sensitivity 100 % and specificity 93.3 %). Both of HCV core Ag and HCV RNA are excellent agreement (kappa =0.988, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the optimal anti-HCV S/CO ratio value is appropriate for screening of hepatitis C virus infection. There is an excellent agreement between HCV core Ag and HCV RNA as a standard method. Therefore, HCV core Ag is a valid and reliable method for confirmation of hepatitis C virus infection
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References
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