HCV core antigen and HCV-RNA in HIV/HCV co-infected patients with different HCV genotypes (BMC Infectious Diseases)

Background: A good correlation between HCV core antigen (HCVAg) and different HCV-RNA assays has been described, but little data are available in HCV/HIV co-infection. We aimed to evaluate HCVAg in comparison with HCV-RNA and to determine their kinetics during antiviral treatment in selected HCV/HIV co-infected patients. Methods: 355 samples from 286 HCV/HIV co-infected subjects for whom HCV-RNA (Abbott RealTime) was requested were analysed also for HCVAg (Abbott ARCHITECT) in order to evaluate the correlation between the two parameters both in patients treated or untreated for chronic hepatitis C and according to different HCV genotypes. The differences between percentages were evaluated by chi square or Fisher`s exact test, while mean and median values were compared by Student`s t test or the Mann-Whitney test, respectively. All differences were considered significant for a p value