ArticlePloS one2021
Clinical utility of hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCVcAg) assay to identify active HCV infection in hemodialysis and renal transplant patients.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic performance of hepatitis C virus core antigen testing for detecting hepatitis C in people living with hepatitis B: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2024Pooled it
- Improving Linkage to the HCV Care Cascade in Nonspecialist Settings: Evaluation of the Performance and Triage Utility of the Elecsys HCV Duo Assay in Japan.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2026Article
- Hepatitis C Virus-Core Antigen: Implications in Diagnostic, Treatment Monitoring and Clinical Outcomes.Viruses · 2024Review
- [HCV antigen detection method and clinical application].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2024Review
- Longitudinal assessment of HCV core antigen kinetics to monitor therapeutic response in the age of DAAs.PloS one · 2023Article
- Viral Hepatitis - The Road Traveled and the Journey Remaining.Hepatic medicine : evidence and research · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prevalence of HCV infection is high and it is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis and renal transplant patients. Diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection requires both HCV antibody screening and confirmatory nucleic acid testing (NAT). Hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCVcAg) is a reliable direct viral marker to identify active HCV infection.
aimTo assess the clinical utility of HCV core antigen to identify active HCV infection in hemodialysis and renal transplant patients.
methodsA representative total of 231 plasma samples with a predominance of low viral load were included for HCVcAg testing and its performance characteristics were compared with the gold standard HCV RNA.
resultsComparison of HCVcAg with HCV RNA showed an excellent specificity of 99% (95% CI: 94.7 to 100%) and sensitivity of 80.62% (95% CI: 73.59 to 87.7%). Likewise, the PPV and NPV of HCVcAg were 99.1% (95% CI: 93.7% to 99.9%) and 80.2% (95% CI: 74% to 85.2%) respectively. The correlation between HCVcAg and HCV RNA was found to be good (R2 = 0.86, p<0.0001). Among common Indian HCV genotypes (1, 3 & 4), good correlation was observed between HCV RNA and HCVcAg (R2 = 0.81, p <0.0001).
conclusionsIt is the first Indian study to show that HCVcAg is a reliable, cost-effective direct marker to identify active HCV infection in hemodialysis and renal transplant patients. Implementation of HCVcAg testing could improve the accessibility to efficacious and affordable disease management in hemodialysis and renal transplant patients. In HCVcAg negative cases, sequential testing with anti-HCV antibody followed by HCV RNA could be a reliable and cost-effective approach.
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