title: Detection of antibody to hepatitis C virus E2 recombinant antigen among samples indeterminate for anti-HCV after wide serological testing and correlation with viremia. The Spanish Study Group for Blood Donors at Risk of Transmission of HCV.
abstract: The detection of antibody to the second envelope protein (E2) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been hampered by the lack of suitable antigens. A previously described E2 recombinant antigen (CHO-E2) expressed as a non-fused, highly glycosylated protein in mammalian cells was used to detect specific antibody (anti-E2) in samples from blood donors and viraemic patients showing positive or indeterminate results for anti-HCV after a wide serological study. Anti-E2 was detected in 50-75% of the donors positive for anti-HCV, 80% of viraemic immunocompetent patients with anti-NS3 alone and 28% of non-viraemic donors with anticore alone. In donors with anti-NS3 (15 samples) or anti-NS4 (51 samples) alone, anti-E2 was found occasionally (3 cases). Moreover, two anti-E2-positive samples from viraemic patients were misidentified by some commercial assays for screening anti-HCV. These results suggest that testing for anti-E2 may be useful for improving the performance of the current assays for anti-HCV screening and confirmation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnosis, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: León
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Elola
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Domingo
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Echevarria
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001782:Blood Donors; D016466:CHO Cells; D006224:Cricetinae; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014766:Viremia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C091015:glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus