This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Takahashi, M. Articles by Ishii, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Takahashi, M. Articles by Ishii, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2005, p. 186-191, Vol. 43, No. 1
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.1.186-191.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Benefit of Hepatitis C Virus Core Antigen Assay in Prediction of Therapeutic Response to Interferon and Ribavirin Combination Therapy

Masahiko Takahashi,^1,2 Hidetsugu Saito,^1* Makiko Higashimoto,³ Kazuhiro Atsukawa,¹ and Hiromasa Ishii¹

Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University,¹ Department of Internal Medicine,² Department of Clinical Laboratory, Hiro-o Metropolitan Hospital, Tokyo, Japan³

Received 26 March 2004/ Returned for modification 22 May 2004/ Accepted 13 September 2004

A highly sensitive second-generation hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen assay has recently been developed. We compared viral disappearance and first-phase kinetics between commercially available core antigen (Ag) assays, Lumipulse Ortho HCV Ag (Lumipulse-Ag), and a quantitative HCV RNA PCR assay, Cobas Amplicor HCV Monitor test, version 2 (Amplicor M), to estimate the predictive benefit of a sustained viral response (SVR) and non-SVR in 44 genotype 1b patients treated with interferon (IFN) and ribavirin. HCV core Ag negativity could predict SVR on day 1 (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 85.0%, accuracy = 86.4%), whereas RNA negativity could predict SVR on day 7 (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 87.2%, accuracy = 88.6%). None of the patients who had detectable serum core Ag or RNA on day 14 achieved SVR (specificity = 100%). The predictive accuracy on day 14 was higher by RNA negativity (93.2%) than that by core Ag negativity (75.0%). The combined predictive criterion of both viral load decline during the first 24 h and basal viral load was also predictive for SVR; the sensitivities of Lumipulse-Ag and Amplicor-M were 45.5 and 47.6%, respectively, and the specificity was 100%. Amplicor-M had better predictive accuracy than Lumipulse-Ag in 2-week disappearance tests because it had better sensitivity. On the other hand, estimates of kinetic parameters were similar regardless of the detection method. Although the correlations between Lumipulse-Ag and Amplicor-M were good both before and 24 h after IFN administration, HCV core Ag seemed to be relatively lower 24 h after IFN administration than before administration. Lumipulse-Ag seems to be useful for detecting the HCV concentration during IFN therapy; however, we still need to understand the characteristics of the assay.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. Phone: 81-3-3353-1211 (ext. 62894). Fax: 81-3-3351-8705. E-mail: hsaito{at}sc.itc.keio.ac.jp.

---

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2005, p. 186-191, Vol. 43, No. 1
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.1.186-191.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pivert, A., Payan, C., Morand, P., Fafi-Kremer, S., Deshayes, J., Carrat, F., Pol, S., Cacoub, P., Perronne, C., Lunel, F. (2006). Comparison of Serum Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) RNA and Core Antigen Levels in Patients Coinfected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and HCV and Treated with Interferon plus Ribavirin. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 417-422 [Abstract] [Full Text]