Mukherjee Ronita, Burns Andrew, Rodden Diane, Chang Frances, Chaum Manita, Garcia Nancy, Bollipalli Nikitha, Niemz Angelika
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, Claremont, CA, USA.
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, Claremont, CA, USA
J Lab Autom. 2015 Oct;20(5):519-38. doi: 10.1177/2211068214563794. Epub 2015 Jan 21.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects more than 200 million people globally, with increasing incidence, especially in developing countries. HCV infection frequently progresses to chronic liver disease, creating a heavy economic burden on resource-poor countries and lowering patient quality of life. Effective HCV diagnosis, treatment selection, and treatment monitoring are important in stopping disease progression. Serological assays, which detect anti-HCV antibodies in the patient after seroconversion, are used for initial HCV diagnosis. Qualitative and quantitative molecular assays are used to confirm initial diagnosis, determine viral load, and genotype the dominant strain. Viral load and genotype information are used to guide appropriate treatment. Various other biomarker assays are performed to assess liver function and enable disease staging. Most of these diagnostic methods are mature and routinely used in high-resource countries with well-developed laboratory infrastructure. Few technologies, however, are available that address the needs of low-resource areas with high HCV prevalence, such as Africa and Southeast Asia.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）在全球感染了超过2亿人，其发病率不断上升，尤其是在发展中国家。HCV感染常常会发展为慢性肝病，给资源匮乏的国家造成沉重的经济负担，并降低患者的生活质量。有效的HCV诊断、治疗选择和治疗监测对于阻止疾病进展至关重要。血清学检测用于HCV的初步诊断，该检测在血清转化后检测患者体内的抗HCV抗体。定性和定量分子检测用于确认初步诊断、确定病毒载量以及对优势毒株进行基因分型。病毒载量和基因型信息用于指导适当的治疗。还会进行各种其他生物标志物检测以评估肝功能并实现疾病分期。这些诊断方法大多已经成熟，在实验室基础设施完善的资源丰富的国家中常规使用。然而，针对HCV高流行的低资源地区（如非洲和东南亚）的需求，可用的技术很少。
