A comparative evaluation of the sensitivity of five anti-hepatitis C virus immunoblot assays.
OBJECTIVE
In order to compare sensitivity, five anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) immunoblot assays were tested (Deciscan plus, Inno-Lia III, Matrix, Murex Western blot and RIBA-3).


METHODS
The test panel (50 samples for each assay) included 6 anti-HCV-negative samples and 44 samples from 36 HCV-infected subjects.


RESULTS
There were minor differences in core reactivity among the assays. The smallest number of NS3-reactive results occurred with the Murex and Matrix assays, and the smallest number of NS4 reactives with RIBA-3 and Matrix. Among the 20 discrepant results for NS5 there was one clear false-negative with Inno-Lia. Only 28 of the 50 samples of the panel gave the same results in all the assays: 5 negatives and 23 positives. One of the 6 negative samples were indeterminate in 3 assays. Eighteen of the 21 other divergent results were interpreted as either indeterminate or positive, a common reactivity being exhibited by all 5 assays. The most important discrepancies occurred on 3 HCV-RNA-positive samples which came up negative in some assays: 2 samples with isolated NS3 reactivity were negative by Matrix and Murex Western blot, 1 of them being also negative by Inno-Lia III; another sample was negative by RIBA-3 and Matrix due to weak signals (< 1) on core and NS3 proteins, which did not exceed 1+ with the other assays.


CONCLUSIONS
With more uniform criteria for interpretation, the results would have been less divergent. Some assays should improve their sensitivity to the NS3 protein.
Couroucé
A M
AM
Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine, Paris, France.
Noel
L
L
Barin
F
F
Elghouzzi
M H
MH
Lunel
F
F
North
M L
ML
Smilovici
W
W
D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005602:France; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C084422:NS3 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases; C093542:NS4 protein, hepatitis C virus; C091015:glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase