Summary
To determine whether the persistent presence of antibodies to recombinant antigens of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) corresponds to the presence of hepatitis C virus RNA in the same serum, 85 anti-HCV positive patients were studied by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The focus of the research was on patients with chronic hepatitis. Eighty- three patients were found to be positive by PCR; only two were negative. In addition, liver biopsies taken from seven patients positive for anti-HCV were shown to contain HCV-specific RNA. Sera collected from three patients suspected to have NANB hepatitis on the basis of clinical symptoms were negative both for HCV antibodies and HCV RNA. The correlation between HCV antibody positivity and detection of HCV RNA was 97.6%.
Zusammenfassung
Wir untersuchten, ob in Seren, die persistierend Antikörper gegen rekombinante Antigene des Hepatitis-C-Virus aufwiesen, gleichzeitig Hepatitis C RNA nachweisbar ist. Der Schwerpunkt der Untersuchungen lag bei Patienten mit chronischer Hepatitis. Die Polymerase-Kettenreaktion ermöglicht den direkten Nachweis viraler Sequenzen. Dadurch läßt sich eine Aussage über die potentielle Infektiösität des Patienten treffen. Von 85 anti-HCV-positiven Patienten waren 83 gleichzeitig in der HCV-PCR positiv, nur zwei waren negativ. In den von uns untersuchten sieben Leberbiopsaten konnten wir in jedem Fall HCV-spezifische RNA nachweisen. Seren von drei Patienten mit klinischem Verdacht auf Hepatitis Non-A, Non-B waren sowohl in der HCV-Serologie als auch in der PCR negativ. In unserer Studie betrug die Korrelation zwischen positivem HCV-Antikörpernachweis und dem HCV-RNA Nachweis 97,6%.
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Reuter, D., Polywka, S., Feucht, H. et al. Close correlation between hepatitis C virus serology and polymerase chain reaction in chronically infected patients. Infection 20, 320–323 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01710675
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01710675