Abstract | INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is diagnosed by the presence of antibodies and is supplemented by confirmatory testing methods, such as recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) and HCV- RNA detection. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of RIBA testing to diagnose HCV infection in blood donors positive for anti-HCV antibodies. METHODS: A total of 102 subjects positive for anti-HCV determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at the Hematology and Hemotherapy Foundation of Bahia (HEMOBA) were later assessed with new samples using the Abbott Architect anti-HCV test (Abbott Diagnostics, Wiesbaden, Germany), the RIBA III test ( Chiron RIBA HCV 3.0 SIA, Chiron Corp., Emeryville, CA, USA), the polymerase chain reaction (PCR; COBAS® AMPLICOR HCV Roche Diagnostics Corp., Indianapolis, IN, USA) and line probe assay (LiPA - Siemens, Tarrytown, NY, USA) genotyping for HCV diagnosis. RESULTS: Of these new samples, 38.2% (39/102) were positive, 57.8% (59/102) were negative and 3.9% (4/102) were indeterminate for anti-HCV; HCV- RNA was detected in 22.5% (23/102) of the samples. RIBA results were positive in 58.1% (25/43), negative in 9.3% (4/43) and indeterminate in 32.6% (14/43) of the samples. The prevailing genotypes were 1 (78.3%, 18/23), 3 (17.4%, 4/23) and 2 (4.3%, 1/23). All 14 samples with indeterminate RIBA results had undetectable viral loads (detection limit ≤50 IU/mL). Of these samples, 71.4% (10/14) were reevaluated six months later. Eighty percent (8/10) of these samples remained indeterminate by RIBA, and 20% (2/10) were negative. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, individuals with indeterminate RIBA results had no detectable HCV- RNA.
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Authors | Felicidade Mota Pereira, Maria Alice Sant'ana Zarife, Eliana Almeida Gomes Reis, Mitermayer G Reis |
Journal | Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
(Rev Soc Bras Med Trop)
2014 Jan-Feb
Vol. 47
Issue 1
Pg. 12-7
ISSN: 1678-9849 [Electronic] Brazil |
PMID | 24603731
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Hepatitis C Antibodies
- RNA, Viral
- Recombinant Proteins
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Topics |
- Adult
- Blood Donors
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
- Female
- Genotype
- Hepacivirus
(genetics, immunology)
- Hepatitis C
(diagnosis)
- Hepatitis C Antibodies
(blood)
- Humans
- Immunoblotting
- Male
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- RNA, Viral
(blood)
- Recombinant Proteins
- Viral Load
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