Kaohsiung J Med Sci
-
Hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCV-Ag) immunoassay has been proposed as a more cost and time efficient one-step alternative to the current two-step screening and diagnostic process. This study investigates the correlation between the HCV-Ag immunoassay and the current gold standard of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecular assay. Stored sera of 221 consecutive treatment-naive patients tested anti-HCV positive were selected to undergo both HCV-Ag immunoassay and HCV RNA molecular assay. ⋯ Analysis of 221 anti-HCV-positive patient sera found a strong positive correlation between HCV RNA and HCV-Ag (r = 0.960, p < 0.001). Genotype 1 (log [HCV RNA] = 0.988 x log [HCV-Ag] + 2.768), with correlation coefficient 0.945, exhibited a stronger correlation than genotype 2 (log [HCV RNA] = 0.859 x log [HCV-Ag] + 2.859; r = 0.862). Given the strong positive correlation between HCV-Ag immunoassay and HCV RNA molecular assay in genotyping affected individuals, we propose that HCV-Ag immunoassay is a more cost and time efficient alternative to the current two-step diagnostic process.