title: Antibodies against non-structural c100/3 and structural core antigen of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in hemodialysis patients.
abstract: Two groups of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) maintenance were evaluated for their antibody response to non-structural c100/3 protein and structural core protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Forty-six patients (Group 1) never presented liver abnormalities during HD treatment, while 52 patients (Group 2) had either current or prior liver enzyme elevations. Prevalence rates of 32.6% and 41.3% were found for anti-c100/3 and anti-HCV core antibodies, respectively, in patients with silent infections (Group 1). The rate of anti-c100/3 in patients of Group 2 was 71.15% and reached 86.5% for anti-HCV core antibodies. The recognition of anti-c100/3 and anti-core antibodies was significantly higher in Group 2 than in Group 1. A line immunoassay composed of structural and non-structural peptides was used as a confirmation assay. HBV infection, measured by the presence of anti-HBc antibodies, was observed in 39.8% of the patients. Six were HBsAg chronic carriers and 13 had naturally acquired anti-HBs antibodies. The duration of HD treatment was correlated with anti-HCV positivity. A high prevalence of 96.7% (Group 2) was found in patients who underwent more than 5 years of treatment. Our results suggest that anti-HCV core ELISA is more accurate for detecting HCV infection than anti-c100/3. Although the risk associated with the duration of HD treatment and blood transfusion was high, additional factors such as a significant non-transfusional spread of HCV seems to play a role as well. The identification of infective patients by more sensitive methods for HCV genome detection should help to control the transmission of HCV in the unit under study.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Virologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: B O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Vanderborght
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Rouzere
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: França
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takamizawa
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Schatzmayr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C078224:anti-C100-3; D000410:Alanine Transaminase