Abstract

PEREIRA, Felicidade Mota; BERTOLLO, Leonardo Assis  and  ZARIFE, Maria Alice Sant'Anna. Comparison of two automated chemiluminescence tests for the detection of antibodies against the hepatitis C virus. Rev Pan-Amaz Saude [online]. 2010, vol.1, n.4, pp.17-21. ISSN 2176-6215.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S2176-62232010000400003.

INTRODUCTION: A correct diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is important because treatment is highly expensive and has severe side effects. The assays for the detection of antibodies against HCV (anti-HCV) have undergone several changes, and third-generation tests have been widely used due to their increased sensitivity and specificity. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to compare two commercially available, automated third-generation chemiluminescence tests for the detection of anti-HCV antibodies. METHODS: We analyzed 67 samples from the serum databank from the Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública do Estado da Bahia (LACEN-BA). The reagents examined were the automated ARCHITECT^® anti-HCV assay (Abbott Diagnostics, Wiesbaden, Germany) and Elecsys^® anti-HCV assay (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland) tests and the confirmatory Recombinant Immunoblot Assay (RIBA) test (Chiron RIBA VHC 3.0 SIA, Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, CA, USA). RESULTS: The Architect anti-HCV assay indicated 18 positive samples, whereas 39 were negative and ten were indeterminate. The Elecsys anti-HCV assay indicated 47 negative and 20 positive samples and no indeterminate samples. Of the ten indeterminate samples indicated by the Architect anti-HCV assay, five were negative by the RIBA test and five were indeterminate. All indeterminate samples indicated by the RIBA test were reactive against the c33 protein. CONCLUSION: The agreement between the two tests (62 samples) was 91.9%. The Elecsys anti-HCV assay appears to be less sensitive than the Architect anti-HCV, particularly for the detection of the c33 protein shown by the RIBA test. In addition, the Architect anti-HCV assay indicated more indeterminate results out of the negative samples confirmed by the RIBA test, which suggests a lower specificity than the Elecsys anti-HCV assay.

Keywords : Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C Antibodies; Laboratory Test.

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