Usefulness of NS5 Antibody Measurement in Recombinant Immunoblot Assay (RIBA) as a Clinical Test for Confirmation of Asymptomatic HCV Infection
10.2185/jjrm.54.640
- Author:
Yukihito MINATO
;
Naoko MOCHIZUKI
;
Keiji KOSHIBU
;
Kouji HATTORI
;
Tatsuo SHIIGAI
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Antibodies;
Hepatitis C virus;
Absence of symptoms;
Measurement;
Confirmation of
- From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine
2005;54(4):640-643
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
Using RIBA NS5 antibody was measured in 31 HCV RNA positive serotype 1 patients, and the serum levels of ALT were monitored for an average of three years. As a result, 22 asymptomatic HCV carriers (group A) were found to be NS5 antibody negative (-) and nine to be NS5 antibody positive (4+). By contrast, in 25 patients with chronic inactive hepatitis C (group B), three patients were NS5 antibody negative (-), and 22 patients were NS5 antibody positive (4+), indicating a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.01 chi square test).Furthermore, in group A, 22 NS5 antibody (-) patients (group I) maintained normal serum levels of ALT significantly longer than the 9 NS5 antibody (4+) patients (group II) (p<0.01, Kaplan-Meier Method). Therefore, the measurement of NS5 antibody of RIBA was clinically useful in identifing asymptomatic (HCVRNA positive, serotype 1) HCV carriers.
