title: A higher correlation of HCV core antigen with CD4+ T cell counts compared with HCV RNA in HCV/HIV-1 coinfected patients.
abstract: Development of HCV infection is typically followed by chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in most patients, while spontaneous HCV viral clearance (SVC) occurs in only a minority of subjects. Compared with the widespread application of HCV RNA testing by quantitative RT-PCR technique, HCV core antigen detection may be an alternative indicator in the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infections and in monitoring the status of infectious individuals. However, the correlation and differences between these two indicators in HCV infection need more investigation, especially in patients coinfected by HIV-1. In this study, a total of 354 anti-HCV and/or anti-HIV serum positive residents from a village of central China were enrolled. Besides HCV-related hepatopathic variables including clinical status, ALT, AST, anti-HCV Abs, as well as the altered CD4+/CD8+ T cell counts, HCV core antigen and HCV viral load were also measured. The concentration of serum HCV core antigen was highly correlated with level of HCV RNA in CHC patients with or without HIV-1 coinfection. Of note, HCV core antigen concentration was negatively correlated with CD4+ T cell count, while no correlation was found between HCV RNA level and CD4+ T cell count. Our findings suggested that quantitative detection of plasma HCV core antigen may be an alternative indicator of HCV RNA qPCR assay when evaluating the association between HCV replication and host immune status in HCV/HIV-1 coinfected patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Xiangmei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yuanlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.forename: Shuiwang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Fengmin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhuang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002681:China; D060085:Coinfection / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; C069130:nucleocapsid protein, Hepatitis C virus; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase