HCV core antigen plays an important role in the fight against HCV as an alternative to HCV-RNA detection

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Immunology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection poses a significant global health challenge.
• Accurate diagnosis and monitoring are crucial for effective management and treatment of HCV.
• Current diagnostic methods like HCV-RNA and anti-HCV antibodies have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical significance of HCV core antigen (HCV-cAg) testing.
• To compare the advantages of HCV-cAg detection with HCV-RNA and anti-HCV antibody assays.
• To explore its utility in diagnosis, activity determination, and therapeutic monitoring of HCV infection.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and summarization of published studies on HCV-cAg detection.
• Analysis of clinical data comparing HCV-cAg with other HCV diagnostic markers.
• Assessment of HCV-cAg performance in various patient populations.

Main Results:

• HCV-cAg expression correlates strongly with HCV-RNA levels.
• HCV-cAg testing is simpler, faster, and less expensive than HCV-RNA assays.
• HCV-cAg detection shortens the diagnostic window period by 5-7 weeks and indicates active viral replication.
• It is particularly useful for immunocompromised patients, those on hemodialysis, and transplant recipients.
• HCV-cAg aids in monitoring antiviral treatment efficacy and predicting sustained virological response (SVR).

Conclusions:

• HCV-cAg testing demonstrates comparable clinical sensitivity to nucleic acid testing (NAT) and can substitute for HCV-RNA in diagnosis.
• Combined detection of HCV-cAg and antibodies allows for earlier and more accurate diagnosis of HCV infection stages.
• This combined approach facilitates effective evaluation of antiviral therapy, contributing to hepatitis C prevention and treatment.