The Prevalence of HCV Infection in Hemodialysis Population and Compared ELISA and PCR Methods for Detecting of HCV Infection

Abstract

Background: Hemodialysis is one of the renal replacement therapies in patients with end-stage renal failure. The current study aimed at identifying the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in hemodialysis population, and comparing serological (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and molecular (polymerase chain reaction) methods to detect HCV infection in North of Iran. Methods: Serum samples from 162 patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis were collected in 2 hemodialysis units of Sari city (North of Iran). HCV RNAs were isolated from samples using RIBO-prep nucleic acid extraction kit (AmpliSens®, Russia). Total RNAs were extracted from samples and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using HCV-FRT PCR kit (AmpliSense, Russia) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Results: In the study, 7 (4.3%) cases were HCV-Ab positive and 155 (95.7%) HCV-Ab negative. Additionally, 11 patients (6.8%) were HCV-PCR positive, while 151 (93.2%) were HCV-PCR negative. Among 11 HCV-PCR positive patients, 7 (63.6%) were HCV-Ab positive and 4 (36.4%) were HCV-ab negative. HCV-ab test was not positive in any of the HCV-PCR negative patients. Conclusions: The results showed that the specificity of HCV-RNA detection was significantly higher than that of the conventional HCV-ab test. The gold standard test to confirm HCV positive should be PCR method.