Comparison of two automated chemiluminescence tests for the detection of antibodies against the hepatitis C virus
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: A correct diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is important because treatment is highly expensive and has severe side effects. The assays for the detection of antibodies against HCV (anti-HCV) have undergone several changes, and third-generation tests have b...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2010 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Institución: | Instituto Evandro Chagas (IEC) |
| Repositorio: | Revista Pan-Amazônica de Saúde (RPAS) |
| Idioma: | portugués inglés español |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:revista.iec.gov.br:article/1259 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ojs.iec.gov.br/rpas/article/view/1259 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Hepatitis C Hepatitis C Antibodies Laboratory Test Hepatite C Anticorpos Anti-Hepatite C Testes Laboratoriais |
| Sumario: | ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: A correct diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is important because treatment is highly expensive and has severe side effects. The assays for the detection of antibodies against HCV (anti-HCV) have undergone several changes, and third-generation tests have been widely used due to their increased sensitivity and specificity.OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to compare two commercially available, automated third-generation chemiluminescence tests for the detection of anti-HCV antibodies.METHODS: We analyzed 67 samples from the serum databank from the Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública do Estado da Bahia (LACEN-BA). The reagents examined were the automated ARCHITECT® anti-HCV assay (Abbott Diagnostics, Wiesbaden, Germany) and Elecsys® anti-HCV assay (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland) tests and the confirmatory Recombinant Immunoblot Assay (RIBA) test (Chiron RIBA VHC 3.0 SIA, Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, CA, USA).RESULTS: The Architect anti-HCV assay indicated 18 positive samples, whereas 39 were negative and ten were indeterminate. The Elecsys anti-HCV assay indicated 47 negative and 20 positive samples and no indeterminate samples. Of the ten indeterminate samples indicated by the Architect anti-HCV assay, five were negative by the RIBA test and five were indeterminate. All indeterminate samples indicated by the RIBA test were reactive against the c33 protein.CONCLUSION: The agreement between the two tests (62 samples) was 91.9%. The Elecsys anti-HCV assay appears to be less sensitive than the Architect anti-HCV, particularly for the detection of the c33 protein shown by the RIBA test. In addition, the Architect anti-HCV assay indicated more indeterminate results out of the negative samples confirmed by the RIBA test, which suggests a lower specificity than the Elecsys anti-HCV assay. |
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