Abstract
Serologic methods of typing for hepatitis C virus offer advantages over PCR-based typing methods in terms of speed and simplicity of sample preparation and in the use of standard laboratory equipment. We examined the sensitivities and specificities of two hepatitis C virus serotyping assays which use sets of type-specific antigenic peptides derived from the core or the nonstructural 4 (NS4) regions and compared the results with those of molecular typing with type-specific primers from the core region. Although there was a good concordance between serotyping by either assay and genotyping, we found that the sensitivities of both serologic assays were less than optimal compared with that of molecular typing, with only about 50% of samples being unequivocally typed. Moreover, amino acid sequence similarities within the regions of the genome used for serotyping preclude differentiation into subtypes, which may have important clinical and therapeutic implications.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (147.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bhattacherjee V., Prescott L. E., Pike I., Rodgers B., Bell H., El-Zayadi A. R., Kew M. C., Conradie J., Lin C. K., Marsden H. Use of NS-4 peptides to identify type-specific antibody to hepatitis C virus genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. J Gen Virol. 1995 Jul;76(Pt 7):1737–1748. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-76-7-1737. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bukh J., Purcell R. H., Miller R. H. Sequence analysis of the core gene of 14 hepatitis C virus genotypes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Aug 16;91(17):8239–8243. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.17.8239. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cammarota G., Maggi F., Vatteroni M. L., Da Prato L., Barsanti L., Bendinelli M., Pistello M. Partial nucleotide sequencing of six subtype 2c hepatitis C viruses detected in Italy. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Oct;33(10):2781–2784. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.10.2781-2784.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garson J. A., Tuke P. W., Makris M., Briggs M., Machin S. J., Preston F. E., Tedder R. S. Demonstration of viraemia patterns in haemophiliacs treated with hepatitis-C-virus-contaminated factor VIII concentrates. Lancet. 1990 Oct 27;336(8722):1022–1025. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)92487-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lau J. Y., Mizokami M., Kolberg J. A., Davis G. L., Prescott L. E., Ohno T., Perrillo R. P., Lindsay K. L., Gish R. G., Qian K. P. Application of six hepatitis C virus genotyping systems to sera from chronic hepatitis C patients in the United States. J Infect Dis. 1995 Feb;171(2):281–289. doi: 10.1093/infdis/171.2.281. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Machida A., Ohnuma H., Tsuda F., Munekata E., Tanaka T., Akahane Y., Okamoto H., Mishiro S. Two distinct subtypes of hepatitis C virus defined by antibodies directed to the putative core protein. Hepatology. 1992 Oct;16(4):886–891. doi: 10.1002/hep.1840160406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mondelli M. U., Cerino A., Bono F., Cividini A., Maccabruni A., Aricò M., Malfitano A., Barbarini G., Piazza V., Minoli L. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core serotypes in chronic HCV infection. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Oct;32(10):2523–2527. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.10.2523-2527.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nakao T., Enomoto N., Takada N., Takada A., Date T. Typing of hepatitis C virus genomes by restriction fragment length polymorphism. J Gen Virol. 1991 Sep;72(Pt 9):2105–2112. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-72-9-2105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Okamoto H., Sugiyama Y., Okada S., Kurai K., Akahane Y., Sugai Y., Tanaka T., Sato K., Tsuda F., Miyakawa Y. Typing hepatitis C virus by polymerase chain reaction with type-specific primers: application to clinical surveys and tracing infectious sources. J Gen Virol. 1992 Mar;73(Pt 3):673–679. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-73-3-673. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Okamoto H., Tokita H., Sakamoto M., Horikita M., Kojima M., Iizuka H., Mishiro S. Characterization of the genomic sequence of type V (or 3a) hepatitis C virus isolates and PCR primers for specific detection. J Gen Virol. 1993 Nov;74(Pt 11):2385–2390. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-74-11-2385. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Silini E., Bono F., Cividini A., Cerino A., Bruno S., Rossi S., Belloni G., Brugnetti B., Civardi E., Salvaneschi L. Differential distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes in patients with and without liver function abnormalities. Hepatology. 1995 Feb;21(2):285–290. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Silini E., Bono F., Cividini A., Cerino A., Maccabruni A., Tinelli C., Bruno S., Bellobuono A., Mondelli M. Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection among intravenous drug users. J Hepatol. 1995 Jun;22(6):691–695. doi: 10.1016/0168-8278(95)80225-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Simmonds P., Rose K. A., Graham S., Chan S. W., McOmish F., Dow B. C., Follett E. A., Yap P. L., Marsden H. Mapping of serotype-specific, immunodominant epitopes in the NS-4 region of hepatitis C virus (HCV): use of type-specific peptides to serologically differentiate infections with HCV types 1, 2, and 3. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Jun;31(6):1493–1503. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.6.1493-1503.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Simmonds P. Variability of hepatitis C virus. Hepatology. 1995 Feb;21(2):570–583. doi: 10.1002/hep.1840210243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stuyver L., Rossau R., Wyseur A., Duhamel M., Vanderborght B., Van Heuverswyn H., Maertens G. Typing of hepatitis C virus isolates and characterization of new subtypes using a line probe assay. J Gen Virol. 1993 Jun;74(Pt 6):1093–1102. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-74-6-1093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]