Diagnostic methods for hepatitis C in resource-poor settings

Viral hepatitis brings a heavy medical burden to the world and is the main cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite the effectiveness of antiviral drugs, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, one of the major viruses associated with viral hepatitis, remains a global problem. Therefore, in the WHO roadmap to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030, detection, health system linkage and treatment of viremic people are one of the main goals.

However, identifying patients in resource-limited settings and high-risk populations with limited access to healthcare remains a challenge, requiring innovative diagnostic methods to enable decentralized testing. New work from the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid analyzes the performance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis using blood and dried plasma samples (DBS and DPS) using two different assays and evaluates the impact of storage time its diagnostic properties.

Better diagnosis of hepatitis C virus using two different tests

This is a joint study by the CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) team in collaboration with the CIBER Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBEREHD) of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid.The research was conducted by holguin africa, CIBERESP researcher at the Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS) and Hospital Center Microbiology Service, with Juan Carlos Galan, CIBERESP Group Leader and Virology Group Leader, and Agustín Albilos, CIBEREHD Team Leader and Head of Gastroenterology Service.This work also involved researchers Paloma Troiano Hernes (first signatory), Beatrice Romero Hernandez, Francisco Guia, Gabriel Reyna and Pedro Gerardo and published in the magazine microbiology spectrum.

The importance of this research lies in Validation of good performance in the diagnosis of HCV using dried blood and plasma samples using two different diagnostic assays routinely used to detect viremic patients.Assay based on molecular detection RTHCV PCR and other detection core antigen (HCV-core Ag). The effect of storage time of dried samples at room temperature was also evaluated, with samples kept for 7 days to 3 months before analysis.

Economical, non-invasive and very sensitive detection

Dry samples have certain advantages Relative to traditional blood, plasma, or serum samples obtained by venipuncture. They are obtained by depositing a few drops of blood (DBS) or plasma (DPS) on special filter paper cards. Once dry, they can be easily transported and stored.they are one Economical, non-invasive and adequate alternative

For serological and molecular testing. Because it is readily available without the equipment and qualified health personnel required for venipuncture, its use may be beneficial for people who have difficulty accessing standard health systems, venipuncture, or difficulty connecting to the system.

This work shows Blood and dried plasma samples and rtPCR enable very sensitive and specific molecular diagnosis of HCV, even after storing samples at room temperature for 3 months. Furthermore, it confirmed that adequate quantification of HCV RNA could be performed on DPS (samples stored for up to one month) and DBS, which showed adequate stability up to 3 months after acquisition.

This study also supports HCV core Ag testing (more economical) May aid in qualitative diagnosis of viruses Use DBS to detect active HCV infection in patients even if samples have been stored at room temperature for 3 months.

Alternative to traditional samples

The research team confirmed that DBS has good sensitivity and specificity in detecting HCV core Ag, and its performance can even be improved by applying optimized cutoff points. Therefore, the use of DBS is an excellent alternative to traditional serum/plasma sampling in HCV screening. With limited resources,

rtPCR is not required and can be easily incorporated into a one-step or collection For population screening for hepatitis C virus. “

“We confirm that dried blood samples are an interesting alternative for screening and diagnosing hepatitis C in settings with limited resources or high-risk populations. These data provide very useful information demonstrating the effectiveness of these alternative samples, helpful Achieve the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating hepatitis C virus by 2030”, Dr. Olkin concluded.

Reference article: Effect of dried blood (DBS) and dried plasma sample (DPS) storage time on point-of-care hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA quantification and HCV core antigen detection