Search

In November 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration reclassified 2 types of hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnostic tests (HCV antibody and HCV nucleic acid) from class III to class II, providing a less burdensome pathway to market for diagnostic companies. This down-classification is anticipated to facilitate innovation in HCV diagnostics, particularly for new point-of-care viral detection assays, and ultimately support HCV elimination efforts by increasing the ease of screening as well as test-and-treat models of HCV care., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. The author has received institutional grant support from Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Helio Health, Roche-Genentech, Durect Corporation, and Eiger Pharmaceuticals, and has served on an advisory/data and safety monitoring board for Moderna. The author has submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

Introduction: The aim of this national, multicenter, cross-sectional, retrospective chart review study was to determine the proportion of patients in Turkey who received hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment after receiving positive anti-HCV results during HCV screening., Methodology: Data related to patients' demographics, laboratory results, time interval from obtaining a positive anti-HCV result to treatment initiation, specialty of the physician requesting anti-HCV screening, and type of hospital were analyzed., Results: Among 1,000 patients who received a positive anti-HCV result, 50.3% were male and 78.5% were screened for HCV-RNA. Among HCV-RNA screened patients, 54.8% (n = 430) had a positive result. Among patients who tested positive for HCV-RNA, 72.8% received HCV treatment in line with their positive anti-HCV results. The median time from obtaining a positive anti-HCV result to initiation of HCV treatment was 91.0 days (interquartile range 42.0 to 178.5). Non-surgical branches requested HCV-RNA testing more frequently than surgical branches (p < 0.001). The rate of access to HCV treatment was higher among patients screened in university hospitals than among patients screened in training and research hospitals (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Our results indicate a higher rate of treatment initiation among patients with HCV infection than is described in the published literature. Furthermore, the time from screening to treatment initiation was considerably shorter compared with other international studies. However, since HCV-RNA testing was not requested in a significant portion of patients with a positive anti-HCV test result, there might be a large patient population with HCV who do not receive treatment., Competing Interests: Mustafa K Çelen has served as a consultant for AbbVie, Gilead, MSD, Pharmactive, İlko, GSK, and Abdi İbarahim; as a speaker for Gilead, MSD, Pharmactive, İlko, and GSK; and has received research funding from AbbVie, Gilead, MSD, and GSK. Buket Ertürk Şengel has served as a consultant for AbbVie, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Şafak Kaya has served as a consultant for AbbVie; as a speaker for Gilead, Abdi İbrahim, and Pharmactive; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Neşe Demirtürk has served as a speaker for Nobel, Gilead, and Abdi İbrahim; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Alpay Azap has served as a consultant for AbbVie, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Hüsnü Pullukçu has served as a consultant for AbbVie, Gilead, GSK, and MSD; as a speaker for AbbVie, Gilead, GSK, İlko, and MSD; and has received research funding from AbbVie, and Gilead. Esma Eroğlu has received research funding from AbbVie. Figen Yıldırım has served as a consultant for AbbVie, Gilead, GSK, Santa Farma, and İlko; as a speaker for Gilead, GSK, Santa Farma, and İlko; and has received research funding from AbbVie, and Gilead. Hüseyin Ş Barut has received research funding from AbbVie. Esra Zerdali has served as a consultant for Gilead, GSK, and MSD; as a speaker for Gilead, İlko, and GSK; and has received research funding from AbbVie, and Gilead. Ayşe Sağmak Tartar has served as a speaker for Pharmactive, Pfizer, and Astellas; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Ayşe Ö Mete has served as a consultant for AbbVie and Gilead; has served as a speaker for AbbVie, Gilead, Pharmactive, Pfizer, GSK, and Abdi İbrahim; has received research funding from AbbVie, Pfizer, and Neutec; and has received congress participation support from Gilead, and Pfizer. Ahmet M Şahin has served as a consultant and a speaker for AbbVie, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Bedia Mutay Suntur has served as a speaker for Gilead, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Nagehan D Sarı has served as a consultant for AbbVie, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Emel Yılmaz has served as a speaker for AbbVie, İlko, and Abdi İbrahim; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Aslıhan Candevir has served as a consultant and a speaker for AbbVie, Gilead, Pfizer, GSK, Pharmactive, Santa and Farma; and has received research funding from AbbVie, Gilead, Pfizer, GSK, Pharmactive, and Santa Farma. Funda Şimşek has served as a consultant and a speaker for Gilead, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Dilara İnan has served as a consultant for Gilead, GSK, and MSD; as a speaker for AbbVie, Gilead, GSK, İlko, and MSD; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Sıla Akhan has served as a consultant for AbbVie, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Ali Asan has served as a consultant for AbbVie; as a speaker for AbbVie and Gilead; and has received research funding from AbbVie, and Gilead. Özgür Günal has served as a consultant and a speaker for AbbVie, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Onur Ural has received research funding from AbbVie. Mehmet Parlak has received research funding from AbbVie. Mehmet Çabalak has served as a consultant and a speaker for AbbVie, Gilead, MSD, and Pharmactive; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Selçuk Nazik has served as a consultant for AbbVie; as a speaker for İlko; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Kenan Hızel has received research funding from AbbVie. Sami Kınıklı has served as a speaker for Gilead, and has received research funding from AbbVie. Zehra Beştepe Dursun has received research funding from AbbVie. Ayşe Batırel has served as a consultant and a speaker for Gilead, Pfizer, and Santa Farma; and has received research funding from AbbVie. Çiğdem Mermutluoğlu has no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright (c) 2024 Mustafa K Çelen, Buket Ertürk Şengel, Şafak Kaya, Neşe Demirtürk, Alpay Azap, Hüsnü Pullukçu, Esma Eroğlu, Figen Yıldırım, Hüseyin Ş Barut, Esra Zerdali, Ayşe Sağmak Tartar, Ayşe Ö Mete, Ahmet M Şahin, Bedia Mutay Suntur, Nagehan D Sarı, Emel Yılmaz, Aslıhan Candevir, Funda Şimşek, Dilara İnan, Sıla Akhan, Ali Asan, Özgür Günal, Onur Ural, Mehmet Parlak, Mehmet Çabalak, Selçuk Nazik, Kenan Hızel, Sami Kınıklı, Zehra Beştepe Dursun, Ayşe Batırel, Çiğdem Mermutluoğlu.)

Introduction: The measurement of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is a test that requires high cost, advanced technique, and qualified personnel. Diagnosis and treatment of patients may be delayed due to the high rate of false-positive results. This study aims to predict true antibody positivity and viremia by determining the most appropriate anti-HCV signal-to-cutoff (S/Co) value reflecting HCV infection., Methodology: The presence of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA levels were examined in 72341 people who applied to the Mengücek Gazi Training and Research Hospital between January 2018 and December 2020. The anti-HCV levels were determined by using the Abbot Architect i2000 SR device (Abbot Diagnostics, Chicago, IL, USA). The levels of HCV RNA were determined in the COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS, TaqMan 48 (Roche, Diagnostics, Pleasanton, USA) devices using serum samples from patients. Our study is a retrospective and methodological study., Results: Of the 150 patients with anti-HCV antibodies, 50 (33.3%) were HCV RNA positive, and 100 (66.7%) were HCV RNA negative. Anti-HCV levels of HCV RNA-positive patients were statistically higher than HCV RNA-negative patients. The most appropriate anti-HCV S/Co value for diagnosing hepatitis C patients was 15.4. The sensitivity of this value was 72%, specificity 88%, positive predictive value (PPV) 73.5%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 86.1%. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was significantly higher than 0.5 (95% confidence interval 0.938-0.827)., Conclusions: Correct approaches can be applied in the diagnosis of HCV infection using the anti-HCV S/Co value found in our study., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2024 Bülent Dabanlıoğlu, Aysun Yılmaz, Sümeyye Akyüz, Barış Gülhan.)

Background: Hepatitis B and C viral infections are among the common infectious diseases with global public health importance. Nigeria is among the countries identified to be hyper-endemic for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HBV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among healthcare seekers at Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria, to increase awareness among the populace and sensitize public health stakeholders., Methods: A retrospective study that involved data abstraction from the medical laboratory records of patients seeking care at Bingham University Teaching Hospital. The information collected included screening results for HBsAg and anti-HCV. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24., Results: A total of 186 patients were screened for HBV infection and 96 were screened for HCV infection. The mean ages and standard deviations were 36.2 ± 15.05 years and 37.2 ± 14.48 years for those screened for HBV and HCV, respectively. The seroprevalence rate of HBV infection was 14.0% while the rate for HCV infection was 10.4%. Males had a higher HBV seroprevalence of 9.1% than females with 4.9%. For HCV seroprevalence, females recorded a higher prevalence of 6.2% compared to their male counterparts who had 4.2%. Among those screened for HBV, the young adult age group had the highest prevalence rate of 10.2%, while for the HCV screen the middle-aged group had the highest prevalence rate of 6.2%. These were, however, not statistically significant (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: This study has shown that both HBV and HCV infections are hyper-endemic. There is a need to intensify awareness campaigns and improve the implementation of preventive and management strategies for HBV and HCV infections., Competing Interests: The Authors declare that no competing interest exists, (Copyright © 2023 by West African Journal of Medicine.)

Few studies on royal jelly's (RJ) antiviral activities and toxicity have been conducted. Here, we investigated the antioxidant properties of RJ that was fractionated into soluble fraction (SF), non-soluble fraction (NSF), water-soluble protein fraction (crude protein fraction, CPF), PF 30 , PF 40 , PF 50 , and PF 60 . The PFs were identified by SDS-PAGE, and phenolic constituents of SF were detected by HPLC. The qualitative anti-HCV, immunomodulatory, and predicted impact of the studied fractions on ERK2/MAPK14 (activated by HCV) were investigated. The influences of RJ fractions on HIV CD4, reverse-transcriptase, and integrase were examined. The acute toxicity of RJ, SF, NSF, and CPF-PF 50 (all CPF except PF 50 ) was tested. Results showed that RJ had potent antioxidant efficiency, and its SF contains functional phenolic compounds. PF 30 , PF 40 , and PF 50 only showed anti-HCV potency, and PF 50 had an immunomodulatory effect against HCV and predicted inhibitory influence on ERK2/MAPK14. RJ-PFs, particularly PF 60 , showed the most effective anti-HIV ingredients. A single ip injection of RJ fractions at different concentrations revealed that SF was the safest one. Whereas NSF was the most toxic at 700-5000 mg/kg b.w., its toxicity was reversed spontaneously after seven days. Thus, this study provides valuable information about the antiviral activities and toxicity of RJ constituents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests. Authors have published two international patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the efficacy of RJ proteins in the treatment of HCV and HIV (Pub. No.: US2020/0207820 A1 and US 2020/0399330 A1; Pub. Date: Jul. 2, 2020, and Dec. 24, 2020, respectively)., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection screening and diagnosis are critical to control the hepatitis C epidemic. Testing for anti-HCV antibodies (Ab) in blood samples is the first step to screen people who have been infected with the virus., Objectives: To evaluate the performance of the MAGLUMI Anti-HCV (CLIA) Test for detection of HCV antibodies., Study Design: To assess the diagnostic specificity, serum samples from 5053 unselected donors and 205 blood specimens from hospitalized patients were collected. To evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity, 400 positive HCV Ab samples were collected and 30 seroconversion panels were tested. All samples that met the test criteria were tested with the MAGLUMI Anti-HCV (CLIA) Test according to manufacturer's instruction. Results of the MAGLUMI Anti-HCV (CLIA) Test were compared with the Abbott ARCHITECT anti-HCV reference test., Results: The specificity of the MAGLUMI Anti-HCV (CLIA) Test was 99.75% and 100.00% in blood donor and hospitalized patient samples, respectively. The sensitivity of the Test in HCV Ab positive samples was 100.00%. Seroconversion sensitivity was comparable between the MAGLUMI Anti-HCV (CLIA) Test and the reference assay., Conclusions: The performance of the MAGLUMI Anti-HCV (CLIA) Test makes it suited for HCV infection diagnosis., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Screening strategies for undiagnosed infections are fundamental for hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination. We previously investigated HCV prevalence and screening strategies in an urban primary care setting. IV drug abuse, blood transfusion before 1992, immigration, or elevated ALT were identified as risk factors in a post hoc analysis and diagnosed 83% of unknown HCV-RNA-positive cases by screening only 26% of the population. We aimed to validate prospectively the proposed screening algorithm in two independent urban and rural cohorts and to analyse for potential differences., Methods: Anti-HCV and ALT were included in a routine check-up together with a questionnaire covering risk factors. HCV-RNA was analysed in anti-HCV-positive individuals., Results: In urban and rural areas, 4323 and 9321 individuals were recruited. The anti-HCV prevalence was 0.56% and 0.49%, and 0.1% of patients were HCV-RNA-positive in both regions. Fifty-two anti-HCV positive patients including eight HCV-RNA-positive cases were unaware of the infection (number needed to screen to detect one unknown anti-HCV-positive individual: 262). At least one of the three aforementioned risk factors or elevated serum ALT was present in 3000 patients (22%). Restricting HCV screening to only those with risk factors, 52% and 75% of all anti-HCV and HCV-RNA-positive undiagnosed patients were identified (number needed to screen: 111)., Conclusions: We confirm prospectively the efficiency of a risk-based HCV screening. The risk-based algorithm should be evaluated in other countries with similarly low HCV prevalence as in Germany to achieve WHO HCV elimination goals., (© 2023 The Authors. Liver International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Universal hepatitis C screening in pregnancy is not recommended by NICE due to a lack of effective interventions to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) and is only offered to pregnant women at increased risk of infection (intra-venous drug use [IVDU] or with a HCV positive family member). No testing is offered to patients from high endemic areas. However, data regarding true seroprevalence in multi-ethnic inner-city populations in the UK are required. This study aimed to determine test positivity rates of HCV infection in an unselected South East London ethnically diverse population of pregnant women by universal screening during routine antenatal care compared with a "targeted" screening approach. "Targeted" risk-based screening was performed in two eras (2016, n = 1002) and subsequently in 2018, after modifying the HCV risk questionnaire (n = 1122). Universal opt out screening was similarly performed in two eras in 2017 (n = 1012) and again in 2019 (n = 1057). During screening for HBV, HIV and syphilis, anti-HCV was tested, followed by an iterative HCV RNA test in those positive for anti-HCV. All anti-HCV-positive women were referred to the specialist hepatology service, and testing was offered to all family members. All HCV RNA-positive patients were followed during pregnancy and post-delivery period and were offered treatment. All infants of HCV RNA-positive mothers were linked to care with paediatric team. In the 2016 "targeted" screening cohort 212/1002 had a risk of BBV (blood borne viral) infection and (0.6%) were anti-HCV positive and HCV RNA positive. 0.3% patients were newly diagnosed. In the 2017 universal screening cohort, 1012/1038 pregnant women consented to testing. 0.96% were anti-HCV positive and 0.86% women were HCV RNA positive with 0.67% newly diagnosed. After modification of the risk-based questionnaire, a second risk-based targeted cohort were tested in 2018: 342/1122 (31%) were assessed as at risk and were offered an anti-HCV test. 0.71% were anti-HCV positive and 0.27% were HCV RNA positive. In the 2019 cohort tested by universal screening, 1049/1057 women were tested and 0.85% tested positive for anti-HCV, 0.28% women were HCV RNA positive. All newly diagnosed patients were born abroad. All patients had mild liver disease and had normal pregnancies. All patients were treated post-delivery and achieved SVR. All patients were negative for other BBV infections. In conclusion, the anti-HCV test positive rate in this ethnically diverse pregnant cohort ranged between 0.96% and 0.6% (whole cohort) but the rate depended upon the era and screening methodology used. Universal screening detected a higher numbers of anti-HCV positive women during pregnancy, including those not previously aware of their hepatitis C. While there was not significant drop in seroprevalence in pregnant women between 2016 and 2019, we observed that the ratio of HCV RNA positive to anti-HCV positive women has declined over time, from 0.86% in 2016 (100% HCV RNA+) to 0.28% in 2019 (33% HCV RNA+) for whole cohort probably due to increased HCV treatment rates from 2016. These data have important implications for hepatitis C testing in pregnancy and the appropriate methodology to use for maximal accuracy., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Rapid tests (RT) have been widely used for screening of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in general population, but its performance in hemodialysis (HD) patients and mainly in kidney-transplant recipients (RTx) is less known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of RT for detection of anti-HCV in HD and RTx patients. Patients were prospectively included subdivided in four groups according to the positivity for anti-HCV detected by conventional serology: (1) HD patients anti-HCV +, (2) HD patients anti-HCV -, (3) RTx patients anti-HCV +, and (4) RTx patients anti-HCV -. All patients were retested for HCV using the commercial kit Alere HCV ® Bioeasy Rapid Test (Bioeasy Diagnóstica LTDA-Minas Gerais, Brazil) in capillary whole blood samples. During the period of study were included 46 HD patients anti-HCV+, 62 HD patients anti-HCV -, 53 RTx patients anti-HCV + and 56 RTx patients anti-HCV -. In patients on HD, the RT showed sensitivity (S), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of 100%. In RTx patients, S of 96%, SP of 100%, PPV of 100% and NPV of 97% were found (accuracy of 98%). In conclusion, in patients on HD there was 100% agreement between RT and the conventional immunoassay. In the RTx group, although the agreement was not 100%, the RT performed very well when compared to conventional serology. This study demonstrates that the RT can be an alternative to conventional serology in HCV screening of patients on HD and RTx.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from acute or chronic liver inflammation caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Metal ion chelators have achieved widespread success in the development of antiviral drugs. Some inhibitors with metal ion chelating structures have been proven to have good inhibitory activities on non-structural protein 5B (NS5B) polymerase. However, most of the reported metal ion chelators showed poor anti-HCV potency at the cellular level. Hence, we designed and synthesized a series of 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-dione derivatives with novel metal ion chelating structures. Typical compounds such as 21h, 21k, and 21t showed better anti-HCV activities than ribavirin with EC50 values less than 10 μM. 21t is currently known as one of the metal ion chelators with the best anti-HCV potency (EC50 = 2.0 μM) at the cellular level and has a better therapeutic index (TI > 25) as compared to ribavirin and the reported compound 6. In the thermal shift assay, the representative compounds 21e and 21k increased the melting temperature (Tm) of NS5B protein solution by 1.6 °C and 2.1 °C, respectively, at the test concentration, indicating that these compounds may exert an anti-HCV effect by targeting NS5B. This speculation was also supported by our molecular docking studies and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry assay, in which the possibility of binding of 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with Mg2+ in the NS5B catalytic center was observed.

Remarkable scientific breakthroughs have been made in the stride towards the development of potent and tolerable hepatitis C regimens within the last three decades. Earlier approaches involved the use of pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin as standard-of-care treatment. Treating genotype 1a infection with this regimen which was at that time considered the gold standard for hepatitis C virus therapy was rife with challenges; safety and toxicity issues necessitated a rigorous quest for alternative regimens. Deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus ushered in the era of direct acting antiviral agents. These agents have been the subject of intensive research in the last two decades, leading to the development of drug classes such as protease inhibitors (e.g., grazoprevir), NS5A inhibitors (e.g., daclatasvir) and NS5B inhibitors (e.g., sofosbuvir). While many are still under development, several have been approved for hepatitis C therapy. A number of studies investigating the combination of direct acting antiviral agents with or without pegylated interferon and/or ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis have demonstrated sustained virologic response of > 90%. Given the array of direct acting antiviral agents currently available, the present landscape of hepatitis C therapy is now characterized by a gradual transition to all-oral interferon-free regimens. Despite these milestones, the WHO global target of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health problem by 2030 seems uncertain. In this review, we provide a concise account of the evolution and advancements in the development of anti-HCV regimens., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2022 Ahmad Adebayo Irekeola, Engku Nur Syafirah EAR, Nur Amalin Zahirah Mohd Amin, Nazri Mustaffa, Rafidah Hanim Shueb.)

Objective: To discuss the clinical significance of HCV-cAg testing in the diagnosis, activity determination, and monitoring of therapeutic effectiveness of HCV infection and its advantages compared with HCV-RNA and anti-HCV antibodies detection., Methods: By summarizing the published literature, the advantages and significance of HCV core antigen detection were sought., Results: The expression of HCV-cAg is highly consistent with that of HCV-RNA, but compared with HCV-RNA, detection of HCV-cAg is easy to operate, time saving, and low cost. HCV-cAg can be detected within 12~15 days after infection, and the window period can be shortened by5~7 weeks. HCV-cAg is a serological indicator of virus replication, which can distinguish previous infection of HCV or current infection. HCV-cAg detection is more suitable for immunocompromised, hemodialysis, organ transplant patients. HCV-cAg also can be used to monitor antiviral efficacy and predict sustained virological response (SVR)., Conclusion: HCV core antigen has similar clinical sensitivity to NAT and can be used as a substitute for HCV-RNA in the diagnosis of virus infection. Combined detection of HCV-cAg and antibody serology can help doctors detect HCV infection earlier, accurately diagnose different stages of HCV infection, and evaluate the therapeutic effect of antiviral drugs, which are beneficial in the prevention and treatment of hepatitis C., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are widely used in Lubumbashi for the diagnosis of viral hepatitis B and C. To date, there are no works that have been carried out in Lubumbashi to independently assess the performance of such tests. This study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of RDTs for the detection of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies in order to identify infected blood donors in Lubumbashi. A total of 300 serum samples (100 HBsAg positive samples; 100 anti-HCV positive samples and 100 HBsAg and anti-HCV negative samples) were tested simultaneously using the 6 locally used RDTs and as gold standard the chemiluminescent assays for HBsAg and the RT-TMA for HCV detection. The six evaluated RDTs demonstrated a sensitivity and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100 % whereas the specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) varied from 46 % to 98.1 %. SB BioLine HBsAg test performed best in this study with 100 % of sensitivity, 97.1 % of specificity, 100 % of NPV and 96.9 % of PPV. Furthermore, sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV for SB BioLine HCV test were as follows: 100 %, 98.1 %, 100 % and 93.9 %. Therefore, SD BioLine tests (HBsAg, HCV) would be selected as the first line RDTs for the detection and the diagnostic of hepatitis B and C. They can prevent blood-borne transmission of HBV and HCV in areas with limited incomes as Lubumbashi., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The purpose of study was to establish risk group on hepatitis C in conditionally healthy population of the Belgorod oblast. Total 2025 conditionally healthy inhabitants aged between 1 and 99 were surveyed and serum samples from them were tested. There were eight age groups: 1-14 years (12.3%), 15-19 years (13.1%), 20-29 years (12.7%), 30-39 years (12.8%), 40-49 years (12.8%), 50-59 years (11.8%), 60-69 years (8.6%) and over 70 years of age (15.7%). Overall, 44.6% of the examined persons were male. 41.3% (ranging from 6.5 to 72.1%) of respondents reported surgery in their anamnesis, 5.1% (ranging from 0.8 to 12.6%) had blood/blood products transfusion, 10.3% (ranging from 1.7 to 57.9%) ear/nose piercing and 2.96% (ranging from 0.8 to 6.6%) tattoos. There were no people who injected drugs. The piercing was significantly higher in age groups 15-19 years and 20-29 years than other age groups (p-value<0.05). The tattoos were significantly higher in group of 70 years and older than in age groups 15-19 years, 30-39 years and 40-49 years (p-value<0.05). Anti-HCV antibodies were detected using third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ("IFA-ANTI-HCV", Nizhny Novgorod). The HCV RNA was tested with RT-PCR. The Anti-HCV was detected in 22 persons (1.1%), 77.3% out of them were older than 53 year and they were born prior to 1965. The Anti-HCV were significantly higher for the people over 70 years of age than in the age groups of 1-14 years, 15-19 years, 30-39 years and 40-49 years (p-value<0.05). The 2.65% of the examined persons were older 53 years had anti-HCV. Only 0.36% of anti-HCV were found in the young age groups of the examined persons who were born after 1965, the percentage was significantly lower than in older age groups (p-value<0.05). The 16 people had RNA-HCV and 87.5% persons were born in or before 1965. There was one person with genotype 3a (age group 30-39 years), 15 persons with genotype 1b (fourteen out of them were older 53 years and one person was in the age group 20-29 years. The study established that risk age group are inhabitants born before 1965 in Belgorod region. It can be taken into account in regional hepatitis С screening programs.

Objective: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is typically evaluated based on the current rate of positivity of anti-HCV antibody; however, HCV RNA positivity is considered the main criterion for antiviral treatment of HCV infection in the clinical setting. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of HCV infection based on anti-HCV and HCV RNA detection in the population of Liaoning Province, and investigated the correlation between serum HCV RNA positivity and anti-HCV levels., Methods: A total of 192,202 patients who underwent serum anti-HCV examination at Shengjing Hospital in 2018 were enrolled in the study. Anti-HCV production was tested using a chemiluminescence assay, and serum HCV RNA detection was performed with Roche COBAS TaqMan (CTM) Analyzer., Results: The prevalence of anti-HCV was 1.21 and 0.93% among male and female patients in Liaoning Province, respectively. The positive rates of anti-HCV and serum anti-HCV levels were both age-related, in which patients over 40 years of age had a significantly higher anti-HCV positive rate than those younger than 40 years. Among the anti-HCV-positive patients, the average HCV RNA positive rate was 51.66 and 35.93% in males and females, respectively. Spearman rank analysis showed a significantly positive correlation between serum HCV RNA positivity and the level of anti-HCV. The best cut-off value using serum anti-HCV levels to predict the positivity of HCV RNA was determined to be 9.19 signal-to-cut-off ratio (s/co) in males and 10.18 s/co in females., Conclusion: The prevalence of anti-HCV in the general population of Liaoning Province was around 1.04%, which was higher than that previously reported from a national survey of HCV infection in China. Approximately 42.9% of the anti-HCV-positive patients also tested positive for HCV RNA. However, the positive correlation between the serum anti-HCV and HCV RNA levels suggests that the positivity of serum HCV RNA can be predicted according to the anti-HCV level in anti-HCV-positive patients, which can improve screening and facilitate timely intervention to prevent the spread of infection.

The World Health Organization and the German government have announced an initiative to eliminate chronic hepatitis C until the year 2030. To reach this goal, one important step is adequate screening and detection of so far undiagnosed infections. The most common initial test is anti-HCV. This parameter was extra-budgetary reimbursed by statuary healthcare insurances in the past. However, this policy has changed after a nationwide laboratory reform which should reduce the laboratory costs of patients insured in the statuary healthcare insurances. We therefore analysed the impact of the laboratory reform on the order of anti-HCV tests in 510 656 anonymized patient data sets before and after the initiation of the reform. The number of anti-HCV tests declined by 9.4% in quarters I-III 2018 in comparison with the same time period of the year 2017. The number of HBsAg tests declined by 7.4%, indicating that the reduced anti-HCV laboratory orders are not parameter-specific, but most likely a surrogate of the intention of the laboratory reform to generally lower the demands of blood samples and laboratory costs. Thus, the scenario is an important example, how political decisions of the medical self-government influence the screening setting for viral hepatitis: if the current policy is not changed, the laboratory reform directly counteracts the WHO hepatitis C elimination strategy in Germany., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: In the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the first step is screening for anti-HCV antibodies, and positive results are generally confirmed with nucleic acid amplification tests. Recent studies have reported that more compatible results have been obtained with the HCV RNA test using signal to cut-off (S/Co) values >1, which are the routine reactivity threshold for the anti-HCV enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test. The aim of this study was to determine the most appropriate S/Co value for the anti-HCV test, predicting HCV infection., Methodology: Comparisons were made between results of 559 patients who underwent anti-HCV with ECLIA method and HCV RNA tests with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. By accepting the HCV-RNA test as the gold standard for HCV infection, the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the ECLIA test were determined and statistical "receiver operating characteristic" (ROC) analysis was applied to determine the most appropriate threshold., Results: Between January 2013 and April 2018, a total of 81,203 serum samples were examined. Of 559 anti-HCV positive patients, HCV RNA positivity was determined in 214 (38.2 %). According to the ROC analysis results, the most appropriate S/Co value was determined as 12.27, at which sensitivity was 94.4 %, and specificity 97.4 %. The positive and negative predictive values were calculated at the high rate of 95.7% and 96.6% respectively., Conclusions: The results of this study investigating the anti-HCV reactivity values which could be used in the diagnosis of HCV infection determined the most appropriate value to be 12.27., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2019 Ozlem Kirisci, Ahmet Caliskan.)

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) requires epidemiological monitoring to estimate its disease burden and to develop countermeasures. This study aimed to investigate the difference between the 2015 and 2009 nationwide anti-HCV seroprevalence and to determine linkage to care estimates in South Korea., Methods: A total 268,422 examinees ≥ 20 years old were included in 2015 from 33 medical institutions nationwide. Electronically extracted data were retrospectively analyzed to calculate the age-, sex-, and area-adjusted anti-HCV prevalence. Seroprevalence in 2015 was measured using the same method as that in 2009. For anti-HCV-positive subjects, medical records were reviewed to see whether HCV RNA testing or antiviral treatment was performed., Results: Adjusted anti-HCV prevalence was 0.60% (95% confidence interval, 0.57-0.63) based on general Korean population in 2015. It showed an increasing trend according to age; 0.23% in thirties, 0.38% in forties, 0.63% in fifties, 1.08% in sixties, and 1.65% in those aged ≥ 70 years. From 2009 to 2015, the adjusted anti-HCV prevalence decreased by 30%, with odds ratio of 0.70 (95% CI 0.70-0.71). There was significant intranational regional variation and changing pattern of seroprevalence. Among 1359 anti-HCV-positive subjects, HCV RNA test was performed in 60% and 25.4% had positivity. Treatment-initiated and cured rates in 2015 were 18.5% and 10.9%, respectively., Conclusions: Anti-HCV prevalence in South Korea was 0.6% in 2015, showing a 30% decrease from that in 2009. Although the HCV RNA testing rate was increased since 2009, this remains suboptimal. Moreover, the treatment uptake rate should be improved in South Korea.

Background: Mother-to-child transmission is one of the main sources of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in children. However, because of the asymptomatic course of the illness, certain women may not be aware of their infection., Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the significance of epidemiological anamnesis in diagnoses of HCV infection in women of reproductive age and to evaluate how screening among pregnant women impacts the detection of HCV infection., Material and Methods: Epidemiological interviews of 432 mothers infected with HCV (but free of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)) were conducted in the Warsaw Hospital for Infectious Diseases (Poland) from 1998 to 2012., Results: Complaints or abnormalities in laboratory tests were the reasons for anti-HCV antibody testing in 28.2% of mothers, whereas specific interview responses or occupational health care services group affiliation were the reasons for testing in 35.6%. However, in a large group of women, infection was only detected because of screening examinations. The introduction of routine screening for pregnant women (since 2010 in Poland) has led to the increased detection of HCV infection in women who did not present with infection risk factors (9.9% before 2010 vs 46.1% after 2010). This practice has also led to an increase in the percentage of women diagnosed during pregnancy (21.5% before 2010 vs 30.8% after 2010)., Conclusions: Establishing HCV infection risk factors during the interview process is the most common indicator for serological testing; however, not all infected cases can be diagnosed in this manner. Screening for anti-HCV antibodies in pregnant women increases the detection of HCV infection in this group.

Background: Hepatitis C prevalence figures for people who use drugs in Belgium are scarce, and particularly for people who inject drugs. The current study refines the existing HCV estimates by focussing on diagnostic HCV testing practices for this population at risk., Methods: The analysis is the result of a descriptive crosssectional study, based on data extracted from the linkage between a database of people in treatment for substance use disorders in Belgium and a database of the Belgian health insurance companies. By using national nomenclature codes for HCV tests, the number of people in treatment for substance use disorders who were tested on HCV, were estimated., Results: 18,880 out of 30,905 patients (61.1%) in treatment for substance use disorders between 2011 and 2014 have been screened at least once for HCV between 2008 and 2015. 58.0% of those who had never injected and 59.1% of those with an unknown injecting status were tested for HCV, compared to 86.5% of the patients who had recently injected and 84.5% of those who had ever injected. 36.8% of the people who had recently injected were tested for HCV RNA., Conclusions: This study supports the need of a continued effort of health care providers to identify people infected with HCV. For a population at risk such as people who use drugs, regular screening is needed to reach the goal set by WHO of near viral elimination of HCV by 2030., (© Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica.)

Background: Anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) antibody assays are recommended for HCV infection screening. The Mindray anti-HCV assay, based on a third-generation immunoassay, was recently launched in China. We aimed to evaluate its diagnostic performance compared with that of two other widely used assays., Methods: Six HCV infection seroconversion panels were used to evaluate the sensitivity of the assay for early detection. A total of 1952 clinical samples were tested by the Mindray anti-HCV, Elecsys anti-HCV II, and Architect anti-HCV assays. Samples with reactive results using at least one anti-HCV assay were further tested with the recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). Inconsistent results were investigated by the HCV RNA assay and HCV core antigen assay. HCV infection diagnosis was made according to the results of laboratory tests and medical records., Results: The Mindray anti-HCV assay and Elecsys anti-HCV II assay detected seroconversion in an average of 12.5 days and 10.5 days, respectively, and this difference was not significant (P = .818). Of the 1952 cases, 90 were categorized as "HCV infection" and 1862 were categorized as "no HCV infection." The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (LR+), and negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of each assay were as follows: the Mindray anti-HCV assay, 95.6%, 99.2%, 85.1%, 99.8%, 118.6 and 0.045, respectively; the Architect anti-HCV assay, 98.9%, 95.2%, 50.0%, 99.9%, 20.69 and 0.012, respectively; and the Elecsys anti-HCV II assay, 96.7%, 99.9%, 98.9%, 99.8%, 1799.9 and 0.033, respectively. There were significant differences in the specificity, PPV and LR+ among the three assays (P < .001). There were no significant differences in the sensitivity, NPV or LR- among the three assays (P > .05)., Conclusions: The Mindray anti-HCV assay displays a similar sensitivity to the Elecsys anti-HCV II assay with respect to the early detection of HCV infection. The Mindray anti-HCV assay shows excellent diagnostic performance and is suitable for the screening of HCV infection., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: We previously showed that knockdown of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) resulted in suppression of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In this study, whether brusatol, an Nrf2 inhibitor, has dual anti-HCV and anticancer effects was explored., Methods: The anti-HCV effect of brusatol was investigated by analyzing HCV RNA and proteins in a hepatic cell line persistently-infected with HCV, HPI cells, and by analyzing HCV replication in a replicon-replicating hepatic cell line, OR6 cells. Then, dual anti-HCV and anticancer effects of brusatol and enhancement of the effects by the combination of brusatol with anticancer drugs including sorafenib, which has been reported to have the dual effects, were then investigated., Results: Brusatol suppressed the persistent HCV infection at both the RNA and protein levels in association with a reduction in Nrf2 protein in the HPI cells. Analysis of the OR6 cells treated with brusatol indicated that brusatol inhibited HCV persistence by inhibiting HCV replication. Combination of brusatol with an anticancer drug not only enhanced the anticancer effect but also, in the case of the combination with sorafenib, strongly suppressed HCV infection., Conclusions: Brusatol has dual anti-HCV and anticancer effects and can enhance the comparable effects of sorafenib. There is therefore the potential for combination therapy of brusatol and sorafenib for HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health problem and affects large populations all over the world. Serum anti-HCV level is a valuable marker to determine HCV infection. Anti-HCV testing has been recommended for high-risk population. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention in the United States proposed a new high-risk population group - adults born between 1945-1965. Under this perspective, we designed a multicentre retrospective study to determine the seropositivity of anti-HCV among adults born between 1945 and 1965 and adults born after 1965 in Turkey. With the data collected, we aimed to determine whether there was a need for anti-HCV testing especially in people born between 1945 and 1965., Methods: We requested data from ten different medical centres in ten different provinces. Each medical centre collected the anti-HCV test results of adult patients for five-year period between 2009 and 2014 from hospital records., Results: A total of 974,449 anti-HCV test results were included in this study. When the seropositivity rates in the two groups of adults were compared, anti-HCV seropositivity rates were higher in nine medical centres out of ten. Anti-HCV seropositivity in adults born between 1945-1965 was significantly higher than in adults born after 1965 (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: We determined that the anti-HCV seropositivity rate is significantly higher in adults born between 1945-1965 compared to the younger adults as indicated in the literature. According to data from this study together with the WHO and CDC suggestions, we believe that it is appropriate to offer anti-HCV serology testing for people over 50 years of age since the anti- HCV seroprevalence in this age group is relatively high., (Copyright© by the National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2018.)

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is still common among dialysis patients, but the natural history of HCV in this group is not completely understood. The KDIGO HCV guidelines of 2009 recommend that chronic haemodialysis patients be screened for HCV antibody upon admission to the dialysis clinic and every 6 months thereafter if susceptible to HCV infection. However, previous studies have shown the presence of HCV viraemia in anti-HCV-negative haemodialysis patients as up to 22%., Objectives: To evaluate the presence of HCV viraemia, using HCV RNA detection, among anti-HCV-negative haemodialysis patients from a tertiary dialysis unit in Athens., Methods: We enrolled 41 anti-HCV-negative haemodialysis patients diagnosed with third-generation enzyme immunoassay. HCV viraemia was evaluated using a sensitive (cut-off: 12 IU/mL) reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (COBAS AmpliPrep/TaqMan system) for HCV RNA., Results: None of the 41 anti-HCV-negative haemodialysis patients were shown to be viraemic., Conclusions: Routine HCV RNA testing appears not to be necessary in anti-HCV-negative haemodialysis patients.

Occult hepatitis C virus infection (OCI) is a newly defined type of infection by the chronic hepatitis virus (HCV) distinguished by the existence of HCV RNA in liver tissue and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients whose plasma are devoid of both positive serology and RNA. Patients on maintenance hemodialysis evince a higher HCV prevalence than the general population due to high nosocomial transmission by the dialysis units. We investigated the prevalence of occult HCV infection in patients attending our university hemodialysis centers for maintenance hemodialysis. Sixty-two CHD patients negative for serum HCV tests were enrolled in the study. PMNCs were tested by real-time PCR for the presence of HCV RNA. For the 62 patients, the average duration since starting dialysis was 32.7 months and the mean (SD) alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase were 25.74 ± 9.75 and 28.81 ± 11.32 IU/l, respectively. Out of the 62 CHD patients negative for serum anti-HCV and HCV RNA patients, only three (4.84%) were shown to have HCV RNA in their PBMCs implying the diagnosis of OCI; their viral load range was 1.24-4.15 IU/ml. All three OCI-proven patients gave no history of hepatic disease. In this study, we found that patients considered to be free of HCV can have HCV replicating in their PBMCs. This awareness points to the possibility of HCV being transmitted from apparently uninfected persons. A positive HCV RNA detection in PBMCs is dependable in determining OCI among high-risk subjects particularly when a liver biopsy is not an option. HCV transmission can occur through hemodialysis units signaling incorrect application of infection control measures in our Egyptian dialysis units. Additional studies on hemodialysis patients are necessary to realize the true magnitude of OCI among this patient group and to highlight the importance of incorporating HCV viral assays in PBMCs into the diagnostic algorithm.

Background: Anti-HCV assays are widely used as a screening tool for HCV infection. However, diagnostic performances and effective signal-to-cut-off ratios (S/COs) for predicting true HCV infections would vary according to the assays used. Thus, we evaluated the diagnostic performances of the new Elecsys Anti-HCV assay., Methods: A total of 41 694 cases tested by the Elecsys Anti-HCV II assay (Roche Diagnostics, Germany) during January 2013 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed by comparing with the diagnosis on HCV infections determined by patients' medical records and results of laboratory tests., Results: Excluding 62 cases with unclear history of HCV infection, 430 and 41 202 cases were respectively assorted as "true infection" and "no evidence of infection," and 99.85% of the initial results by the Elecsys assay were concordant with the diagnosis on HCV infection. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were respectively 99.30%, 99.86%, 88.04%, and 99.99%, where the prevalence of the HCV infection was 1.0%. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve value of the Elecsys assay was 0.9980 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.9944 to 1.0017). The S/CO by the Elecsys assay for predictive of a true-positive ≥95% of the time was 19.0 (95% CI=15.0 to 25.1)., Conclusion: The Elecsys Anti-HCV II assay showed excellent diagnostic performances, particularly in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and NPV. However, the results obtained by this assay with S/CO less than a certain value would need to be retested by HCV RNA PCR or another anti-HCV assay., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A novel β-D-2'-deoxy-2'-α-fluoro-2'-β-C-(fluoromethyl)uridine phosphoramidate prodrug (1) has been synthesized. This compound exhibits submicromolar-level antiviral activity in vitro against HCV genotypes 1b, 1a, 2a, and S282T replicons (EC 50  = 0.18-1.13 μM) with low cytotoxicity (CC 50  > 1000 μM). Administered orally, prodrug 1 is well tolerated at doses of up to 4 g/kg in mice, and produces a high level of the corresponding triphosphate in rat liver., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Screening large numbers of persons in a population with low prevalence of a disease leads to many false-positives. However, populations with low HCV prevalence may sometimes be recommended for HCV screening, for instance patients or healthcare workers after a possible healthcare-related exposure., Objectives: We determined the percentage of true vs false-positive HCV antibody (anti-HCV) test results among 2007-2012 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES), a nationally representative study with approximately 1% HCV infection prevalence, much lower than in groups typically recommended for HCV screening., Study Design: Anti-HCV test confirmation was performed using a recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) test and follow-up HCV RNA testing., Results: Overall, of 22,359 NHANES participants tested, 479 (2%) were anti-HCV screening reactive and 477 were tested for RIBA; of these 323 (68%) confirmed as true positive and 105 (22%) were false-positives. Many others (49, 10%) were RIBA indeterminate and likely false-positive. Because of these false positive tests, the overall prevalence of chronic infection among those testing anti-HCV screening reactive was much lower (218, 51%) than would be expected due to disease clearance alone (approximately 80%)., Conclusions: All screening anti-HCV positive tests should be followed by an HCV RNA test, in order to confirm whether the patient has current infection so that infected persons can be referred to care and treatment to avoid the significant morbidity and mortality associated with chronic HCV infection., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a serious public health concern and one of the major public health priorities. In 2005, it was estimated that there are 185 million anti-HCV positive people in the world, which constitutes 2.8% of the global population. Our study estimates the anti-HCV seroprevalence in the working age population (15-64 years-old), mostly urban and suburban residents, in Poland from 2004 to 2014. The studied group consisted of 61,805 working-age population representatives whose data were obtained from electronic medical records of an outpatient clinic network operating on a countrywide level. Positive anti-HCV test results were obtained in 957 patients, representing 1.5% of the whole population studied throughout the analysed period. The average age of all anti-HCV positive patients was 36.8 years. Analysis of the data suggests that the proportion of anti-HCV positive patients decreased over the study period (mean positive anti-HCV = -0.0017 × year + 3.3715; R 2  = 0.7558). In 2004, positive results were noted among 3.2% of patients undergoing HCV antibody tests, but in 2014, the percentage of patients with a positive result stood at 1.1%. The apparent decrease affected men and women similarly. Our study also provides evidence that screening people born before 1965 could be beneficial., (This article is copyright of The Authors, 2017.)

In an attempt to study the chemical constituents from the twigs and leaves of Flueggea virosa, a new terpenoid, 9(10→20)-abeo-ent-podocarpane, 3β,10α-dihydroxy-12-methoxy-13- methyl-9(10→20)-abeo-ent-podocarpa-6,8,11,13-tetraene (1), as well as five known compounds were characterized. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. In addition, the structure of dehydrochebulic acid trimethyl ester was revised as (2S,3R)-4E-dehydrochebulic acid trimethyl ester based on a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. The in vitro anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) activity and cytotoxicity against Huh7.5 cells for the isolated compounds were evaluated.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is highly prevalent in Egypt. This work aimed at determining the seroprevalence of HCV among Cairo University students. The present study included 3,000 students from Cairo University, Egypt. Blood sample was obtained from each participant to be tested for HCV seromarker. HCV RNA detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out for those with positive anti-HCV. Overall prevalence rate of HCV antibody (anti-HCV) was 4.6%. It showed that the prevalence was relatively higher among females (86/1660; 5.2%) while males (51/1340; 3.8%) with no significant difference. PCR for HCV RNA was detected in 31.4% of the HCV antibody positive subjects (43/137). Which showed statistical significant difference between males (29/51) and females (14/86) at P = 0.001. Despite the prevalence rate reported in the present study was similar to anti-HCV prevalence among persons in the same age group, confirmed that HCV infection is detected among Cairo University students. J. Med. Virol. 88:1384-1387, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Detection of antibodies (anti-HCV) against hepatitis C virus (HCV) is indispensable for screening and diagnosis of viral hepatitis and for the viral safety of blood, tissue or organ donations. It gains additional importance by the new HCV drugs which improve the therapeutic possibilities dramatically., Objective: To evaluate the performance of a newly developed immune assay for anti-HCV based on the well-established VIDAS platform., Study Design: The assay was evaluated with samples from anti-HCV negative blood donors and from patients with or without HCV markers in six centres in France, Spain and Egypt. The status of the samples was determined by using CE-marked immune assays (Architect, AxSym, Prism, Vitros), two immunoblots (RIBA, Inno-Lia) and/or HCV RNA results., Results: Specificity was 99.67% in 10,320 French blood donors without anti-HCV, 99.5% in 200 anti-HCV negative hospitalized European patients and 99.0% in 198 negative patients from Egypt. Sensitivity was 99.7% in 1054 patients pretested positive by other assays; 345 patients with known genotype had genotype 1-6; 61 patients were co-infected with HIV. VIDAS was reactive in 78% of 91 patients with uncertain or very weak anti-HCV. It became on average positive at day 37 with seroconversion panels., Conclusions: This multicentric, international study with >12,000 samples show that the new VIDAS anti-HCV assay is very suitable for screening and confirmation of HCV infection. Sensitivity, specificity and recognition of seroconversion compare favorably with well-established CE-marked tests and help to clarify discrepant results obtained with other assays., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in high risk juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE)., Study Design: Forty low income JSLE patients (6M:34F; mean age 19±4.4 yrs; mean disease duration 6±3.2 yrs) were studied. Twenty healthy children and adolescents matched for social economical level were included as controls. Anti-HCV tests were performed using a third generation microparticle enzyme immunoassay. Inclusion criterion was low social economical level., Results: The frequencies of anti-HCV antibody were low and comparable between JSLE and control group (2.5% vs. 0, p=1.0). JSLE patients had significantly more risk factors for HCV infection compared to the control group, including immunosuppressive treatment (90% vs. 0, p<0.0001), hospitalization (50% vs. 12.5%, p=0.0006) and invasive procedures (47.5% vs. 12.5%, p=0.001)., Conclusions: The observed low frequency of anti-HCV antibodies in high risk JSLE suggests that this virus does not seem to have a relevant role in the pathogenesis of this disease., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aims to determine the yearly change rates of the HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV test results and their positivity rates obtained from the 68,393 donors who applied and donated blood for the first time at the Blood Center of the hospital., Materials and Methods: Using the ELISA method, screening tests were applied to the blood samples obtained from blood donors, and the HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV positivity rates were calculated at the end of year eight. However, HBsAg and anti-HCV positivities showed a decreased tendency of positivity in years., Results: A total of 68,393 donations were received within eight years. Seroprevalences for anti-HIV, HBsAg and anti-HCV tests were, respectively 0.01%, 1.54% and 0.38%. HBsAg and anti-HCV positivities showed a decreased tendency of positivity in years., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: To illustrate that the combination of a single nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) with a single immunoassay for hepatitis C virus (HCV) detection, as proposed internationally, may lead to the omission of anti-HCV reactive sera with non-reactive NAT results., Materials and Methods: In total, 822 of 519, 299 serum samples from 11 blood centres in China were retested for anti-HCV by using 10 screening assays to detect HCV antibodies. A recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA HCV 3·0; Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics) was performed to define confirmed HCV infection status. Samples with positive or indeterminate RIBA-HCV results were tested by quantitative tests for HCV RNA (Roche Diagnostics)., Results: We found that 47 of the 822 (5·72%) serum samples were RIBA-positive without detectable HCV RNA. For these samples, the 10 anti-HCV immunoassays gave discordant and unsatisfactory results (detection rate ranging from 10·64 to 34·04%; ratio per 100 000 donations ranging from 5·97 to 8·09). Compared with a single anti-HCV screening assay, the two-assay combination increased the detection of these samples. The five best combinations [Sorin and Lizhu enzyme immunoassays (EIAs), Ortho and Lizhu EIAs, Sorin and Wantai EIAs, Sorin EIA and Roche CIA and Ortho and Wantai EIAs] increased the detection rate from 46·81 to 55·57%, thus reducing the ratio per 100 000 donations of HCV-seropositive samples., Conclusion: The combination of two anti-HCV screening immunoassays in parallel with an HCV NAT is a better strategy for HCV detection in blood centres to improve the safety of blood transfusion., (© 2014 British Blood Transfusion Society.)

Aim: An observational seroepidemiological study was carried out in a well-defined primary-care district on the island of Crete in order to determine the recent endemicity of viral hepatitis in Cretan-population., Setting and Participants: The setting consisted of a semi-urban group and a remote & rural group. Serum samples were collected from 876 subjects (437 males, 439 females) aged 15 years or above. Subjects were randomly selected from the permanent population of the area that consisted of 5705 individuals. The aim was to measure the prevalence of selected viral-hepatitis markers., Results: Hepatitis B surface-antigen (HBsAg) was found positive in twenty-nine individuals, (3.3%). Antibodies to hepatitis B virus core-antigen (HBcAb) were detected in 287 subjects (32.8%) and antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) were detected in nineteen subjects (2.2%). Seropositivities for the semi-urban group were: 3.4%, 19.1%, 2.1% and 3.2%, 48.8%, 2.2% in remote & rural group respectively. Virtually, all subjects >45 years old were seropositive for antibodies to hepatitis A, whereas approximately 80% of those in the 15-44 age-group were found to be seropositive., Conclusion: A threefold increase in the HBV exposure and carrier proportion was found in Cretan native-population and in rural-areas compared to older studies carried out in other rural-populations of the island. It is still unknown whether the recent economic crisis or the demographic changes in Cretan-population contributed to these findings. HCV endemicity remains relatively constant, however an alteration of hepatitis C genotypes was observed. Exposure to HAV was found to be higher in remote and rural areas compared to semi-urban areas., (© 2013.)

Background: Anti-HCV assays remain the first choice for screening HCV infection in most clinical laboratories. The Elecsys anti-HCV II assay has been recently launched and we aimed to evaluate its performance compared with other widely used methods., Methods: Four seroconversion panels, 861 consecutive sera under routine clinical conditions, 100 preselected sera with low positive anti-HCV results and 178 samples from patients infected with HIV were tested using Elecsys anti-HCV II, Architect anti-HCV and Vitros anti-HCV assays. Confirmatory testing was performed using RIBA and HCV RNA tests. Moreover, 203 samples with different HCV genotypes were assessed using Elecsys anti-HCV II., Results: Elecsys anti-HCV II detected seroconversion 7-14 days earlier than the Architect and Vitros assays. Furthermore, it had 100% sensitivity and superior specificity in screening routine clinical samples, including those with low positive anti-HCV, and detected 97.6% (122/125) anti-HCV-positive samples from HIV-infected patients with HCV viremia. However, the anti-HCV levels in the genotype 3b samples were slightly underestimated., Conclusions: Elecsys anti-HCV II shortens the seroconversion window. It is suitable for screening HCV infection in clinical samples, including those from immunocompromised patients, due to the excellent sensitivity and specificity. Further investigation of the subtype inclusivity in a larger sample number might be warranted., (© 2013.)

This study investigated the performance characteristics and diagnostic usefulness of a new rapid device test (RDT) for HCV (SD Bioline, Korea). A total of 200 specimens were used in this study and to assess cross-reactivity, five hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive, five anti-hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) positive, five rheumatoid factor (RF) positive, and six samples from multiple myeloma patients were tested. The early detection capability of the test was assessed using seroconversion panels. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated compared with a recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). Sixty-six cases were positive by the RIBA, while 52 cases were positive using the new RDT. The sensitivity and specificity of the new RDT were 78.8% (95% CI: 71.2-86.8%) and 100%, respectively. The kappa value for the agreement between the new RDT and RIBA results was 0.831 (95% CI: 0.746-0.916). The early detection capability of the new RDT and a HCV EIA were similar, with the same window period. The new RDT did not cross-react with HBsAg, anti-HBs, RF and immunoglobulins. In conclusion, the SD Bioline HCV RDT has superior sensitivity and specificity than the GENEDIA® HCV Rapid LF that is used in Korea. This assay can be used for HCV screening, especially in small hospitals, without the financial burden of expensive equipment., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a worldwide health-care burden. Prevalence rates vary and the distribution of genotypes depends on geographical location. Here, the recent prevalence of HCV infections and distribution of HCV genotypes among Korean blood donors were studied., Methods: Between February 2005 and December 2009, a total of 11,064,532 donors were screened for anti-HCV and 11,412,690 donors were screened for HCV RNA. HCV genotyping was conducted for 748 blood donors with HCV RNA by using the line probe assay (VERSANT HCV Genotype 2.0 Assay, Bayer Healthcare, USA) after amplification of the 5'-untranslated and core regions of the genome., Results: The anti-HCV prevalence was 0.16% (17,250/11,064,532). HCV RNA was detected in 959 out of the 11,412,690 donors (8.4/100,000). HCV RNA was more prevalent among women, donors who resided at harbor sites, and first-time donors. In addition, the prevalence of HCV RNA increased with age. The genotypes of 740 out of the 748 tested donors (98.9%) were identified. HCV genotype 1b (47.7%) and 2a/2c (35.0%) were dominant. Genotypes 2 (7.6%), 2b (2.3%), 3a (1.6%), 1a (1.3%), 1 (0.9%), 2v (0.5%), 1v (0.1%), and 3 (0.1%) were also identified. Genotype 4a/4c/4d (0.1%) was detected for the first time in one Korean blood donor., Conclusions: The distribution of HCV genotypes in Korea has not changed remarkably, with the exception of genotype 4a/4c/4d. A periodic study to monitor the prevalence of HCV infections and the distribution of HCV genotypes is required to identify emerging genotypes in Korea.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) heterogeneity accounts for the failure of effective vaccine development and the lack of successful anti-viral therapy in some patients. Little is known about the immune response to HCV peptides and the region or race specific genotypes in China. The objective of this study was to characterize HCV antibody immune response to HCV peptides and HCV genotypes in different regions and races of China. A total of 363 serum samples were collected from HCV carriers in 6 regions in China. The immune response to HCV peptides was evaluated by ELISA. HCV genotypes were examined using nested RT-PCR. We found that the anti-HCV antibody neutralization rates were significantly different among the serum samples from different areas or from different races in the same area. For samples from Tibet and Sinkiang, the rates of neutralization by HCV peptides were only 3.2% and 30.8%, respectively. The genotypes of samples from Tibet and Sinkiang were apparently heterogeneic and included type I, II, III and multiple types (I/II/III, I/II, I/III, II/III). One specific sample with multiple-genotype (I/II/III) HCV infection was found to consist of type I, II, III, II/III and an unclassified genotype. These studies indicate that the anti-HCV antibody immune response to HCV peptides varied across regions and among races. The distribution of HCV genotypes among Tibetans in Tibet and Uighurs in Sinkiang was different from that in the inner areas of China. In addition, a "master" genotype, type II, was found to exist in HCV infection with multiple HCV genotypes.

The aim is to determine the dynamic changes in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among various age groups of the conditionally healthy population of the Tyva Republic over the past 11 years.Material and methods. 1163 serum samples collected in 2019 from the healthy volunteers living in the Tyva Republic of were tested for HCV markers. The study included people of 10 age cohorts: less than 1 year, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 years, and 60 years or older. Anti-HCV antibodies were detected using commercially available enzyme immunoassay. HCV RNA was detected in anti-HCV positive samples by means of RT-PCR. The dynamic changes in HCV prevalence were assessed based on a comparison of the results with data of the seroservey of the same design conducted in this region in 2008 in similar age cohorts of healthy volunteers (n=910).Results and discussion. The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among general population of the Tyva Republic in 2019 was 2.0%. This indicator slightly decreased by 1.7 times over 10 years (3.3% in 2008, p =0.1629). The prevalence of active HCV infection in the Tyva Republic also decreased not significantly (1.1% in 2019 vs. 1.3% in 2008, p = 0.6901). The proportion of people with active infection among anti-HCV positives in 2019 was 56.5%.The decrease in the prevalence of HCV infection over 11 years was associated with a significant reduction in the detection rates of hepatitis C markers in age cohort 40-49 years (0.9% in 2019 vs. 3.6% in 2008 for HCV RNA, p

Objective: We aimed to determine an appropriate anti-HCV test cut-off value for the HCV-RNA study and contribute to the development of correct algorithms by evaluating our hospital's anti HCV and HCV-RNA test results between 2017-2019. Methods: Available HCV-RNA test results of patients who were found to have reactivity in anti-HCV were analyzed. Patients with anti-HCV reactivity were analyzed by dividing into age groups 0-20 years, 21-40 years, 41-60 years, and ≥61 years. HCV-RNA results were also evaluated within the same age groups. Patients with anti-HCV reactivity were divided into three groups according to their S/Co values as 1-5 mLU/mL, 5.1-10 mLU/mL, and ≥10.1 mLU/mL, and statistical analysis was performed. Results: Anti-HCV reactive results were divided into groups of 1.0-3.8 mLU/mL and ≥3.9 mLU/mL according to S/Co values, and HCV-RNA positivity was 2% and 44.4% respectively. When divided into three groups as 1-5 mLU/mL, 5.1-10 mLU/mL, and ≥10.1 mLU/mL according to S/Co values, the HCV RNA positivi- ty rate was 1.8%, 25%, and 55.2%, respectively. The difference between the groups was statistically significant. Conclusion: Countries should carry out comprehensive studies to represent their populations to determine cut-off values for widely used kits and to make this applicable with algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Viral Hepatitis Journal / Viral Hepatit Dergisi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of MN Opthalmology / MN Oftalmoloji is the property of Medical Network and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Viral Hepatitis Journal / Viral Hepatit Dergisi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV) assays have been performed in most laboratories using a variety of analytical methods with different reagents for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening1-2. The purpose of this study was to develop an EQA program for dual HBsAg and anti-HCV serological testing to ensure the accuracy and reliability of serological assays. A serum panel of 12 samples containing three negative, three positives for each virus and three positives for both of HBsAg and anti-HCV. These panels were distributed to 102 laboratories in the South of Vietnam. They were required to report their results and any problems encountered on EQA panel. The results show that performance of HBsAg and anti-HCV tests is not only different in terms of method used but also in the types of biological products. Rapid tests (RTs) to detect HBsAg and anti-HCV were most commonly used to screen for HBV and HCV in laboratories. The coincidence rates of RTs for HBsAg and anti-HCV serological assays were 88.24% and 89.86% respectively, while electrochemiluminescence (ECLs) and chemiluminescent immunoassays (CLIAs), Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed the best performance for both HBsAg and anti-HCV testing. The most challenging was failed to detect weak positive samples. In conclusion, the differences in test results within and between groups of HBsAg and anti-HCV assay methods indicated a need to improve test conditions at laboratories in Viet Nam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To fight against hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic in Egypt, it is crucial to understand the actual HCV situation. Hospitals have been accused as being an epicenter for sustained HCV spread in Egypt. Health care workers (HCWs) as well as patients admitted to hospitals are at special risk of acquiring HCV infection compared to the general population. Aim: To compare between the occurrence of hepatitis C in hospital personnel and patients at a general hospital in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate with reference to associated risk factors among both groups. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January through December 2018 on 203 hospital personnel and 197 patients admitted to Desouk General Hospital in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate, Egypt. A questionnaire for socio-demographic characteristics and HCV risk factors was filled for each participant. For HCWs, questions on occupational exposure were added. A blood sample was withdrawn from each participant to be tested for anti-HCV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Results: The occurrence of anti-HCV among patients was significantly higher than among hospital personnel (18.8% vs 9.4%). Old age, low level of education, rural residence and living in bad housing conditions were significantly associated with anti-HCV positivity among both hospital personnel and patients. However, other parameters as male sex, insufficient income, illicit drug use (IDU), hemodialysis, blood transfusion, hospital admission and receiving any drug by injection or infusion were significant risk parameters for anti-HCV positivity among patients only. Conclusion: The occurrence of HCV in Egypt was substantially high among studied patients. Thus, continuous monitoring and screening of Egyptians are recommended especially after the implementation of the initiative of 100 Million Healthy Lives for HCV control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Viral Hepatitis Journal / Viral Hepatit Dergisi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim. Determine the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) among conditionally healthy population of Russian Federation. Materials and methods. Sera samples obtained from conditionally healthy population of the Russian Federation from 5 geographically distant regions with different levels of morbidity for hepatitis C were studied: Sverdlovsk, Rostov, Moscow regions, Tyva and Sakha (Yakutia) Republics. 4764 samples were studied in total obtained from individuals of 10 age groups: younger than 1, 1 - 4, 5 - 9, 10 - 14,15 - 19, 20 - 29, 30 - 39, 40 - 49,50 - 59, olderthan 60 years. Anti-HCV were determined by commercial ELISA. Results. The total prevalence of anti-HCV in 5 regions of Russian Federation was 2.6% (126/4764). The highest frequency of detection of anti-HCV was detected in Tyva and Yakutia Republics and was 3.3%, in other regions this parameter varied from 1,7 (Moscow region) to 3% in Sverdlovsk region. Peak parameters of anti-HCV detection among population in various regions were connected with various age groups: olderthan 60 years in Tyva and Yakutia Republics (11 and 9.9%, respectively), 40 - 49 in Moscow region (6.2%), 1 - 4 and 30 - 39 years in Sverdlovsk region (5.9 and 4.9%, respectively) and 20 - 39 in Rostov region (3.9%). Conclusion. Results of anti-HCV detection in various age cohorts of conditionally healthy population of Russian Federation give evidence regarding high morbidity with HCV of almost all the age groups in the interval from 20 to older than 60 years. Age cohorts were detected in each of the studied regions for which inclusion into regional screening programs is feasible.

Purpose: To isolate new antimicrobial agents from the leaves of Markhamia platycalyx (Baker) Sprague and assess their phytochemical characteristics and antimicrobial activity. Methods: Different chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques (NMR and ESI-MS) were applied for the identification of antimicrobial compounds. Agar-well diffusion technique was used for determination of antimicrobial activity. Anti-HCV effects were investigated using VITROS Anti-HCV assay. Results: Eighteen compounds were isolated for the first time from this genus. These were phytol, noctacosanoic acid (OCTA), tormentic acid and β-sitosterol-3-O-(6'-O-heptadecanoyl)-β-Dglucopyranoside. The other compounds were β-sitosterol, ursolic acid (URSA), oleanolic acids, pomolic acid (POMA), 2-epi-tormentic and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. However, stigmasterol and acteoside, which were seen in previous studies, were also present. Total ethanol extract (TEE) was the most effective against Escherichia coli, with the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.0 µg/mL. Acteoside, URSA and 2-epi-tormentic acid showed the highest antibacterial effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa while 2-epi-tormentic acid and acteoside produced the least MIC on Candida glabrata. These effects were superior to those produced by standard antibiotics. However, 2-epitormentic acid and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside had no anti-HCV effects. Conclusion: Due to the good antimicrobial properties of Markhamia platycalyx, it is a potential source of new antimicrobial drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]