Suyama Y, Mishima S, Iwata Y, Ishikura H, Shibata H, Masuda J
Division of Blood Transfusion, Shimane Medical University, 89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan.
Rinsho Biseibutshu Jinsoku Shindan Kenkyukai Shi. 1999;10(1):13-9.
We evaluated the basic efficacy and clinical usefulness of "Imucheck F-HCV Ag-core(KOKUSAI)" (Ag-Core). This kit has been developed using monoclonal antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein. This character is different from RT-PCR assay or branched DNA assay, which have been developed for the detection of HCV-RNA. The reproducibility of Ag-Core assay was supported by vigorous mixture of reagents during the manual pretreatment of samples. The correlation between Ag-Core assay and Amplicor HCV (RT-PCR) assay was relatively good (correlation coefficient: r was 0.735 and the qualitative accordance rate was 96.6%). The change of viral load during the IFN-alpha treatment was also in good accordance between the values determined by Ag-Core and Amplicor-HCV assay. Since it is simple, cheaper and faster than the Amplicor-HCV assay. Quantitation of HCV core protein by the Ag-Core assay is useful for monitoring the therapeutic efficacy of IFN-alpha treatment.
