title: Serotyping of hepatitis C virus in hemodialysis patients: comparison with a standardized genotyping assay.
abstract: The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and serotypes in anti-HCV-positive hemodialysis patients and determine the concordance between genotyping and serotyping methods. Sixty-two hemodialysis patients were included in this study. HCV RNA was determined using polymerase chain reaction assay and genotypes using a line probe assay. HCV serotyping was performed with competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Genotype 4 (52 patients) was the most predominant genotype, followed by type 1 (10 patients). The most prevalent HCV serotype was type 4 (41 patients), followed by serotype 1 (6 patients). We detected multiple serotypes in 4 patients and untypeable strains in 11. The overall sensitivity of serotyping assay was 82% for the study patients. According to the genotyping results, the sensitivity of serotyping was 60% and 86.5% for HCV types 1 and 4, respectively. There was a 100% concordance between results of serotyping and genotyping in the identification of HCV type 1 and 91% concordance in HCV type 4. Serological typing method may be of great value in microbiology laboratories that require a simple assay for identification of HCV genotypes, although the sensitivity of this assay may be limited by the immunocompetence of infected hemodialysis patients.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Division, Department of Laboratories, Urology and Nephrology Center, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt. eelsawy@excite.com
authors.forename: Essam M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Elsawy
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sobh
authors.forename: Farha A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: El-Chenawi
authors.forename: Ihab M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Ahmad B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Shehab El-Din
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ghoneim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012703:Serotyping