The Correlation between Hepatitis C Core Antigen and Hepatitis C Virus RNA Levels with Respect to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Status, Hepatitis C Virus Genotype and Interferon-Lambda-4 Polymorphism

Objectives: Serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen (HCVcAg) concentrations correlate with HCV RNA levels in HCV monoinfected patients. Data in HCV/HIV coinfected patients are still limited. We aim to compare the use of HCVcAg measurement with respect to HIV status, HCV genotypes, interferon-lambda-4 (IFNL4) polymorphism and clinical parameters. Methods: We analyzed an untreated cohort of 104 patients with HCV monoinfection and 85 patients with HCV/ HIV coinfection. Serum HCVcAg was measured by a commercial chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. The presence of IFNL4 polymorphism ss469415590 was identified by real-time PCR. Results: log 10 HCVcAg levels were significantly correlated with corresponding log 10 HCV RNA levels (r = 0.889, p < 0.001), but not with ALT levels and liver stiffness. The correlation between HCV RNA and HCVcAg was particularly high in coinfected patients and those with high viremia. Mean log 10 HCVcAg concentration was signifiReceived: June 25, 2014 Accepted after revision: November 23, 2014 Published online: February 13, 2015 Prof. Pisit Tangkijvanich, MD Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University Rama IV Road Bangkok 10330 (Thailand) E-Mail pisittkvn @ yahoo.com © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel 0300–5526/15/0582–0073$39.50/0