title: Antibody responses to hepatitis C virus by second-generation immunoassays in a cohort of patients with bleeding disorders.
abstract: The antibody responses and the prevalence patterns of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) in a cohort of patients (n = 210) with bleeding disorders were studied using a first-generation and a second-generation enzyme immunoassays (EIA-1, EIA-2) as well as a second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA-2). The anti-HCV prevalence as determined by EIA-1 and EIA-2 was 183/210 (87.1%) and 197/210 (93.8%), respectively (p = 0.0026). None of the 17 EIA-2(+)/EIA-1(-) samples was scored nonreactive by RIBA-2. At follow-up, samples of 123 patients were tested. Twenty-nine out of 111 patients reactive by EIA-1 seroreverted according to EIA-1 while the seroreversion rate with EIA-2 was 0 out of the 121 (p < 10(-8)). The anti-HCV prevalence by EIA-2 was 150/154 (97.4%) in anti-HIV-1-positive individuals and 47/56 (83.9%) in the anti-HIV-1-negative ones (p = 0.001). However, high assay signals (OD 492 nm > 2.0) were observed in 94/150 (62.7%) and 45/47 (95.7%) of the anti-HIV-1-positive and -negative patients, respectively (p = 10(-5)). The decreasing anti-HCV reactivity among anti-HIV-1-positive individuals was mainly due to diminishing c33c reactivity. Seroconversion to anti-HCV was observed in 3/7 (42.9%) cases with acute icteric non-A, non-B hepatitis by both EIA-1 and EIA-2, while the remaining 4 cases had detectable levels of anti-HCV 1-18 months before the acute episode.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hatzakis
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Polychronaki
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Miriagou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yannitsiotis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chrispeels
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Troonen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karafoulidou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gialeraki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katsouyanni
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mandalaki
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000276:immunology*; D002836:Hemophilia B / Q000276:immunology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D014842:von Willebrand Diseases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies