J Korean Med Sci.  1999 Apr;14(2):165-170. 10.3346/jkms.1999.14.2.165.

Monitoring antibody titers to recombinant Core-NS3 fusion polypeptide is useful for evaluating hepatitis C virus infection and responses to interferon-alpha therapy

• Park YM
• Byun BH
• Choi JY
• Bae SH
• Kim BS
• So HS
• Ryu WS

• KMID: 648075
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.1999.14.2.165

Abstract

To evaluate the clinical feasibility of the antibody titer against a chimeric polypeptide (named Core 518), in which a domain of Core and NS3 of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was fused, ELISA was performed in a total of 76 serum samples. Each serum was serially diluted using two-fold dilution method with distilled water into 10 concentrations. They were all positive for second generation anti-HCV assay (HCV EIA II; Abbott Laboratories). Genotyping RT-PCR, quantitative competitive RT-PCR, and RIBA (Lucky Confirm; LG Biotech) were also assayed. Anti-Core 518 antibody was detected in x 12800 or higher dilutions of sera from 35 of 43 chronic hepatitis C (81.4%) and nine of 16 hepatocellular carcinoma sera (56.3%), one of four cirrhosis (25%), 0 of four acute hepatitis C, and one of nine healthy isolated anti-HCV-positive subjects (p=0.0000). The anti-Core 518 antibody titers were well correlated with the presence of HCV RNA in serum (p=0.002). The anti-Core 518 antibody titers decreased significantly in nine of ten responders to IFN-alpha treatment. Monitoring anti-Core 518 titers may be helpful not only for differentiating the status of HCV infection among patients with various type C viral liver diseases, but also for predicting responses to IFN-alpha treatment.

Keyword

Viral fusion proteins; Hepatitis C-like viruses; Hepatitis C antibodies

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Female
Genotype
Hepatitis C/immunology*
Hepatitis C/drug therapy*
Hepatitis C/diagnosis
Hepatitis C/blood
Hepatitis C Antibodies/immunology*
Hepatitis C Antibodies/blood
Hepatitis C Antigens/immunology*
Hepatitis C-Like Viruses/immunology*
Hepatitis C-Like Viruses/genetics
Human
Immunoblotting
Interferon Alfa-2a/therapeutic use*
Male
Middle Age
RNA, Viral/blood
Recombinant Fusion Proteins/immunology
Viral Core Proteins/immunology*
Viral Nonstructural Proteins/immunology*