infection with hepatitis c virus (hcv) is a worldwide problem. among hcv proteins, core antigen (ag), besides its importance for diagnostic application is a prime candidate for component of a vaccine. herein, we report results of studies on production of the hydrophilic domain of core ag (2-122) in native conformation by an arabinose induction system in e.coli and the primary characterization o...

results among the 181 anti-hcv ab negative patients, 13 (7.2%) were positive for hcv core ag and 11 (6%) had detectable hcv rna with a range of 40-336543 iu/ml by pcr. the two tests had a high measurement agreement (kappa=0.82, p<0.001). of the 13 patients with positive hcv core ag test results, 3 were negative for hcv rna. considering real time pcr for hcv rna as the gold standard for hcv infe...

Dialysis patients remain a high-risk group for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The current diagnosis of HCV infection among dialysis patients includes serological assays and nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) for assessing serum anti-HCV antibody and HCV viremia, respectively. However, current NAT techniques are expensive and labor-intensive and often lack standardization. An assay ...

An assay prototype designed to detect and quantify total hepatitis C virus [HCV] core antigen (HCV core Ag) protein in serum and plasma in the presence or absence of anti-HCV antibodies has been recently developed by Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics. The aim of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of the Total HCV core Ag assay in comparison with two quantitativ...

The nanocomposite consists of the Ag as a core and Pt as shell on the surface of graphene nanosheets (Ag/Pt-G) was synthesized with a simple method and used as a novel electrochemical platform for an efficient catalyst for oxidation of the ethanol, methanol and formic acid. The morphology and electrochemical properties of Ag/Pt-G nanocomposite were investigated by TEM, X-ray diffraction, and vo...

The active substrates in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy were prepared through self-assembly of nanoparticles on functionalized glasses. Colloidal silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were prepared chemically in two different sizes by reduction of AgNO3 using trisodium citrate and sodium borohydride. Gold–silver core–shell nanoparticles were also prepared to compare between the o...

background the rate of mother-to-infant hepatitis c virus (hcv) transmission is relatively low, however, this mode of infection is the most important route for childhood hcv involvement. the chances of transmission are increased by the level of maternal hcv viraemia and maternal human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) co infection. objectives the objective of the present study was to determine the p...

BACKGROUND End-stage renal disease patients on chronic hemodialysis are among high risk groups for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection for whom routine HCV screening is recommended. Anti-HCV antibody (ab) testing may not be reliable to detect all infected cases because of the blunted ab response due to depressed immune state in these patients. Using a more reliable, cost-effective and non-complex...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen (Ag) levels are known to be well correlating with HCV RNA levels, and may be used as an alternative marker of HCV replication for monitoring the response to HCV treatment. However, the low sensitivity of HCV core Ag assay has been an obstacle for clinical use. In this study, recently developed ARCHITECT HCV Ag assay (Abbott Laboratories, USA) was ...