Relationship between hepatitis C virus antibody and viral load in HIV-infected individuals: a hospital-based study in Yunnan province

• Main Authors: Lijuan KANG (Author), Junyi LIU (Author), Yantao ZHU (Author), Mi ZHANG (Author), Nian ZHANG (Author), Qi XIE (Author), Shifang LIU (Author), Jiantao YANG (Author), Xiao LI (Author), Quanying HE (Author), Jiali WANG (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Public Health, 2024-07-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

ObjectiveTo understand the correlation between hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and HCV RNA viral load in HIV co-infected individuals and to provide a basis for predicting HCV RNA based on HCV antibody detection. MethodsThe blood samples and relevant data were collected from 979 HIV-infected individuals with HCV antibody detection at the Yunnan Provincial Infectious Disease Hospital from November 2022 to March 2023. HCV antibodies were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and HCV RNA was measured by real-time reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). T-test and chi-squared test were used for data analysis. ResultsAmong all participants, 17.9% (n = 176) were HCV antibody positive, and the positive rates were 17.1% (n = 110) and 19.6% (n = 66) for male and female participants, respectively. The rate of HCV antibody positivity was associated with age (χ2 = 107.662, P < 0.001), with the highest rate of 29.6% in participants aged 41 - 60 years and the lowest rate of 0% in participants younger than 20 years. Among participants who were HCV antibody positive, the HCV RNA positivity rate was 46.6%, with positive rates of 50.0% and 40.9% in male and female participants, respectively, and the positive rate was not related to age (P > 0.05). Spearman rank correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between HCV RNA positivity and HCV antibody levels (r = 0.237, P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that an HCV antibody level ≥ 16.78 (signal to cutoff ratio, S/CO) indicated HCV RNA positivity. ConclusionThe rate of HCV antibody positivity was high in the HIV-infected population and positively correlated with HCV RNA levels, with an S/CO value of 16.78 being an optimal threshold for predicting HCV RNA positivity, which could be used in the diagnosis and management of patients co-infected with HIV and HCV.

Item Description

1001-0580
10.11847/zgggws1143319