title: HCV NS3Ag: a reliable and clinically useful predictor of antiviral outcomes in genotype 1b hepatitis C virus-infected patients.
abstract: Since hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural 3 (NS3) protease inhibitor (PI) combined with pegylated interferon/ribavirin (PR) has been approved for chronic HCV genotype (GT) 1b infection, a reliable and clinically useful predictor combining with serum HCV RNA to predict early virologic response, breakthrough, and relapse is important during HCV antiviral treatment. We evaluated the role of HCV NS3 antigen (HCV NS3Ag) on the prediction of virologic response in patients with HCV GT1b during PR or PR/simeprevir (triple) therapy. Three hundred patients were recruited, and HCV RNA and HCV NS3Ag were tested at baseline and weeks 2, 4, 12, 24, 48, and 72. NS3Ag and HCV RNA were significantly related (r(2) = 0.67) in the whole patient selection. The kinetic pattern of HCV RNA and HCV NS3Ag during triple treatment was similar. HCV NS3Ag levels in the triple group closely followed those of HCV RNA; the r(2) values were 0.756 (baseline), 0.837 (2 weeks), 0.989 (4 weeks), and 0.993 (12 weeks), respectively. For patients treated with PR, the positive and negative predictive values (PPVs and NPVs) for viral response were 96.31 % and 67.19 %, respectively, at week 4 by using the decrease of NS3Ag (dHCV NS3Ag) combined with HCV RNA. At week 12, the PPV was similar at 94.16 %, while the NPV reached 87.26 %. The PPV and NPV for the prediction of relapse and breakthrough were 90.6 % and 76.7 %, respectively. HCV NS3Ag is a valuable marker and could be a supplementary predictor of HCV RNA for the prediction of antiviral response, breakthrough, or relapse during HCV antiviral treatment.
authors.affiliation: Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Liver Diseases Institute, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Liver Diseases Institute, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Liver Diseases Institute, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Liver Diseases Institute, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China. xl811cn@163.com.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8 Xitoutiao, You'anmenwai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China. chenxydoc@163.com.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012372:ROC Curve; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C084422:NS3 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases