Hepatitis B core antibody screening in a high prevalence group: comparison of three enzyme immunoassays using receiver operating characteristic analysis.
Selected sera from 296 homosexual men were screened by 3 commercially available anti-HBc enzyme immunoassays (EIA). All patients could be classified either as non-immune to hepatitis B, or with current or previous hepatitis B infection. Using the cut-off optical density values (O.D. values) recommended by the respective manufacturers, the results from these three assays were identical for 83% of the serum samples. For anti-HBc reactivity, the ratio (percentage) was calculated using O.D. sample x 100 divided by the O.D. cut-off value. Employing these ratios, sensitivities and specificities for the three assays were compared. All assays performed well when analyzed by receiver operating characteristic curves with area under the curves of 96-97%. A higher specificity, with only a marginal loss of sensitivity could be achieved by lowering the cut-off to 55% for the Enzygost EIA, to 85% for the Enzygost-monoclonal EIA and to 60% for the Corzyme EIA. Using the modified cut-off values, the results with the three assays agreed for 93% of the serum samples.
Westh
H
H
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen N Denmark.
Hoffmann
S
S
Christiansen
E
E
Worm
A M
AM
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic