title: Monitoring antibody titers to recombinant Core-NS3 fusion polypeptide is useful for evaluating hepatitis C virus infection and responses to interferon-alpha therapy.
abstract: To evaluate the clinical feasibility of the antibody titer against a chimeric polypeptide (named Core 518), in which a domain of Core and NS3 of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was fused, ELISA was performed in a total of 76 serum samples. Each serum was serially diluted using two-fold dilution method with distilled water into 10 concentrations. They were all positive for second generation anti-HCV assay (HCV EIA II; Abbott Laboratories). Genotyping RT-PCR, quantitative competitive RT-PCR, and RIBA (Lucky Confirm; LG Biotech) were also assayed. Anti-Core 518 antibody was detected in x 12800 or higher dilutions of sera from 35 of 43 chronic hepatitis C (81.4%) and nine of 16 hepatocellular carcinoma sera (56.3%), one of four cirrhosis (25%), 0 of four acute hepatitis C, and one of nine healthy isolated anti-HCV-positive subjects (p=0.0000). The anti-Core 518 antibody titers were well correlated with the presence of HCV RNA in serum (p=0.002). The anti-Core 518 antibody titers decreased significantly in nine of ten responders to IFN-alpha treatment. Monitoring anti-Core 518 titers may be helpful not only for differentiating the status of HCV infection among patients with various type C viral liver diseases, but also for predicting responses to IFN-alpha treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea. ympark@cmc.cuk.ac.kr
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Ryu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014758:Viral Core 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; C069130:nucleocapsid protein, Hepatitis C virus