BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION | ||||
| Biochemistry Letters | ||||
| Article 7, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2010, Page 94-105 PDF (368.33 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/blj.2010.64433 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| C. A. Abdel Malak; T. Mosa; M. Hawas | ||||
| Biochemistry Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science Damietta, Mansoura University, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major worldwide public health problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3% (nearly 170 million people) of the world’s population are chronically infected with HCV and that it accounts for around 20% of cases of acute hepatitis and 70% of cases of chronic hepatitis. Detection of HCV antigen in body fluids other than blood is important for assessing possible other routes of viral transmission. This is because body fluids other than blood might be potential sources of HCV infection. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of 25 meningitis patients infected with HCV, serum and cord samples from 25 pregnant women infected with HCV in addition, serum and urine samples of 25 patients infected with HCV were included in this study. Also serum, CSF, cord and urine samples were collected from 30 healthy volunteers as negative controls. HCV antigen was detected in these body fluids using ELISA and western blotting techniques. Western blot analysis showing a single immunoreactive band in cord, CSF, urine and serum of HCV infected patients at 27-kDa. ELISA showed high degrees of sensitivity (92%) and specificity (93.3%). The antigen detection method showed high predictive values of positive (97.2%) and negative (82.4%). | ||||
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