title: Hepatitis C antibody profile and viraemia prevalence in adults with severe haemophilia.
abstract: Sera from 21 patients who had received large amounts of unheated factor VIII concentrate were tested for antibodies to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by both commercial (Ortho C100) and 'in house' ELISAs. 'In house' assays utilized recombinant structural (core) or non-structural (replicase) HCV proteins generated by a baculovirus expression system. Antibodies to HCV were detected in 100% of the sera by the core protein based ELISA but in only 62% and 19% by the C100 and replicase based ELISAs, respectively. Hepatitis C viraemia was demonstrated in 90% of the patients by in vitro amplification of the 5' non-coding region of the HCV genome. Amplification with primer sets from two other regions of the genome proved less efficient at detecting viraemia. We conclude that the prevalence of hepatitis C infection in haemophiliacs may have been underestimated previously and that almost all HCV-infected patients have evidence of on-going viral replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tedder
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ring
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Tuke
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Savidge
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Garson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005169:Factor VIII / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D005169:Factor VIII