Antibody testing and RT-PCR results in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection: HCV-RNA detection in PBMC of plasma viremia-negative HCV-seropositive persons

Abstract

To evaluate the concordance between viremia and antibody testing in hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis, 682 serum or plasma samples collected from patients with known or suspected HCV infection were tested. An overall concordance of 77% between serological and PCR results was found, 5% was RNA positive/antibody negative and 18% antibody positive/RNA negative. The relationship between HCV infection, risk group and clinical diagnosis was studied in 116 patients: the presence of anti-HCV antibody without viremia was shown in 72.7% of asymptomatic subjects and 17.6% of chronic hepatitis subjects without interferon treatment. However, the detection of HCV-RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in four out of 38 plasma viremia-negative HCV-seropositive subjects (10.5%), showed that HCV-RNA could persist in PBMC and could begin the viral replication again at different times. The detection of HCV-RNA in PBMC in anti-HCV-positive subjects without viremia could reduce false-negative results of HCV-RNA testing by RT-PCR in serum or plasma.

Assessment of Alcohol Use Among Methadone Maintenance Patients by Direct Ethanol Metabolites and Self‐Reports

“…(2) As with most studies on alcohol use, the drinking history depends upon self-report, which may be subject to influences such as social desirability and memory bias. (3) HCV PCR testing for RNA was not available, but in this population it can be expected that the great majority would have been positive (Caudai et al, 1998;Strasser et al, 1995).…”

Hazardous alcohol consumption and other barriers to antiviral treatment among hepatitis C positive people receiving opioid maintenance treatment

“…It was not possible to have separate interviewers for follow-up. HCV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for RNA was not available but in this population, the great majority would probably have been positive [51,52]. The sample size was not large, but the bulk of the clinic patients agreed to participate in screening.…”

Longitudinal study in HIV/HCV-coinfected HAART-naive patients and role of HCV genotype

“…HCV-RNA and HIV-RNA were quantified by an "in-house" reverse transcription-PCR quantitative method with parameters previously described with a detection limit of 50 copies/l and 1000 copies/l for HIV and HCV, respectively (Chomczysky and Sacchi, 1987;Caudai et al, 1998;Venturi et al, 2000). Table 1 Evolution of biological and virological parameters in the total population Parameter Mean ± S.D.…”