Improved serodiagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection with synthetic peptide antigen from capsid protein.

Abstract

Cloning and expression of hepatitis C virus have allowed the development of immunoassays to detect hepatitis C virus infection. However, currently available recombinant fusion protein C100-3 assays, based on a nonstructural protein of the virus, are limited in sensitivity, particularly for detecting acute infection. In this report seroconversion panels showed that an assay based on synthetic peptides, derived from immunodominant regions of both capsid and nonstructural proteins, accelerated hepatitis C virus antibody detection by 4-10 weeks. In screening, this enzyme immunoassay increased detection from 47% to 64% in plasmapheresis donors with elevated alanine aminotransferase levels (>100 international units per liter), from 15% to 24% in anti-hepatitis B core antigen-positive blood donors, and from 28% to 42% in renal dialysis patients when compared with nonstructural peptide-based assays. The screening assay was repeatedly reactive for 27 of 2902 volunteer blood donor samples (0.93%); four sera reacted only with the capsid antigen. The peptide test distinguished true from false positive results in agreement with recombinant immunoblot assay in 96% of blood donor samples repeatably reactive on a recombinant hepatitis C virus enzyme immunoassay.

Hepatitis C virus core region: helper T cell epitopes recognized by BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice

“…Anti-HCV core antibody has been detected in the majority of patients with chronic hepatitis C (Chiba et al, 1991). HCV core protein contains immunodominant, highly conserved epitopes that elicit antibody production at an early stage of HCV infection (Harada et al, 1991 ;Hosein et al, 1991;Nasoff et al, 1991).…”

Murine Humoral Immune Response against Recombinant Structural Proteins of Hepatitis C Virus Distinct from Those of Patients

“…The virus genome has been cloned and characterized as a 9.5-kb single stranded RNA (4,11). Several recombinant products of HCV cDNAs have been used as antigens to detect specific antibodies to the virus and have been useful in the diagnosis of HCV infection (3,10,13). We also isolated a cDNA clone derived from the plasma of a Japanese patient (15), and extended the cDNA to obtain the entire genome of Japanese HCV, HCV-N (9).…”

Detection of anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies by ELISA using synthetic peptides

“…Since it was found that 42% of these sera recognized both peptides, we believe that these antibodies might be responsable for some of the false positive results observed when using the O1 and 02 assays. An ELISA assay based on synthetic peptides has been recently published by Hosein et al (27). We have not had access to this assay and for this reason were unable to compare it with our own.…”