Anti-HCV envelope prevalence in blood donors from Baden-Württemberg.
We assess the diagnostic value of the recombinant antigens E1/E2 (heterodimer) and E2 for the screening of blood donors. For this purpose an ELISA assay was developed which used these recombinant glycoproteins as solid antigens on the microtiter plates. The anti-E1/E2 assay was able to detect 80% of the positive samples by Matrix and 87% of the PCR-positive samples. Anti-E2 was less sensitive. Fifteen percent of the indeterminate samples were anti-E1/E2 and 8% anti-E2 positive. In the case of the indeterminate samples there was no coincidence of results between these assays and the PCR. Fifty percent of seroconverters showed an anti-E1/E2-positive result with a previous indeterminate donation. We conclude that the recombinant envelope proteins, mainly anti-E1/E2, might be used in future in the diagnostics of HCV infection to increase the sensitivity of the currently used assays.
da Silva Cardoso
M
M
German Red Cross Blood Bank, Ulm, Germany.
Sturm
D
D
Koerner
K
K
Dengler
T
T
Kerowgan
M
M
Kubanek
B
B
D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies