BACKGROUND: Only limited data is available on the frequency and clinical significance of very low hepatitis C viremia (<600 IU/ml) determined by novel sensitive methods for HCV quantification. STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated the new Abbott m2000 RealTime PCR assay in 3213 consecutive anti-HCV-positive sera as well as in 50 HCV-recovered patients with sustained virological response to standard antiviral therapy. RESULTS: The assay showed a linear range between 10(1) IU/ml and 10(7) IU/ml for HCV genotypes 1-6. An HCV viremia below 600 IU/ml was detected more often with the m2000 RealTime PCR assay than with the Cobas Amplicor assay in viremic sera (7.1% versus 1.8%). Seventy-seven cases with HCV levels below 100 IU/ml not related to ongoing antiviral therapy were identified. An HCV-RNA of less than 12 IU/ml was found in nine of the 50 SVR patients. Two patients had a viral load of 34 IU/ml and 84 IU/ml, respectively, one of those showed persistently elevated ALT levels over a period of 5 years after the end of antiviral treatment. CONCLUSION: An HCV viremia below 600 IU/ml can be detected in almost every 40th anti-HCV-positive sera using real-time PCR based assays. Low persisting HCV-RNA in patients after antiviral therapy may be associated with mild liver inflammation in single cases.
BACKGROUND: Only limited data is available on the frequency and clinical significance of very low hepatitis C viremia (<600 IU/ml) determined by novel sensitive methods for HCV quantification. STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated the new Abbott m2000 RealTime PCR assay in 3213 consecutive anti-HCV-positive sera as well as in 50 HCV-recovered patients with sustained virological response to standard antiviral therapy. RESULTS: The assay showed a linear range between 10(1) IU/ml and 10(7) IU/ml for HCV genotypes 1-6. An HCV viremia below 600 IU/ml was detected more often with the m2000 RealTime PCR assay than with the Cobas Amplicor assay in viremic sera (7.1% versus 1.8%). Seventy-seven cases with HCV levels below 100 IU/ml not related to ongoing antiviral therapy were identified. An HCV-RNA of less than 12 IU/ml was found in nine of the 50 SVR patients. Two patients had a viral load of 34 IU/ml and 84 IU/ml, respectively, one of those showed persistently elevated ALT levels over a period of 5 years after the end of antiviral treatment. CONCLUSION: An HCV viremia below 600 IU/ml can be detected in almost every 40th anti-HCV-positive sera using real-time PCR based assays. Low persisting HCV-RNA in patients after antiviral therapy may be associated with mild liver inflammation in single cases.
Authors: Kimberly Page; William Osburn; Jennifer Evans; Judith A Hahn; Paula Lum; Alice Asher; Eric Delwart; Leslie Tobler; Andrea L Cox; Michael P Busch Journal: Clin Infect Dis Date: 2012-10-22 Impact factor: 9.079
Authors: J Morgan Freiman; Jianing Wang; Philippa J Easterbrook; C Robert Horsburgh; Francesco Marinucci; Laura F White; George Kamkamidze; Mel Krajden; Anne Loarec; Richard Njouom; Kihn V Nguyen; Gamal Shiha; Reham Soliman; Sunil S Solomon; Tengiz Tsertsvadze; Claudia M Denkinger; Benjamin Linas Journal: J Hepatol Date: 2019-02-21 Impact factor: 30.083