Comparison of Second-Generation Screening and Confirmatory Assays with Recombinant Antigens and Synthetic Peptides against Antibodies to Hepatitis C Virus: A Study in Renal Patients
The aim of this study was to compare some common tests which are nowadays routinely used to screen and to confirm anti-HCV antibodies in renal patients. There was agreement between Ortho 2 and Abbott 2 in 94% of samples; structural and nonstructural beads of the Abbott supplementary assay were in agreement with 4-RIBA in 98 and in 85% of samples, respectively; 61% of Ortho 2 samples and 65% of Abbott 2 samples were confirmed by 4-RIBA; there was a correlation between semiquantitative analysis of screening tests (Ortho 2 and Abbott 2) and positive results by 4-RIBA; 36 and 33% of Ortho-2- and Abott-2-positive samples were 4-RIBA indeterminate: in these instances more sophisticated techniques (polymerase chain reaction) (PCR) could be useful as a third-level assay. The comparison between Ortho 2, based on recombinant antigens, and Innotest, based on synthetic peptides, showed agreement only in 44% of samples, but this preliminary comparison cannot afford definitive conclusions. These findings suggest that second-generation assays may sometimes yield conflicting results in renal patients. These contradictions will be resolved by new HCV tests or PCR.