HCV-INFECTION IN BLOOD-DONORS - ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ANTI-HCV CORE IGMANTIBODIES AND SERUM HCV RNA

Among 47 blood donors tested positive with HCV EIA 2.0 Abbott, 27 (57. 4%) also reacted with four 'third-generation' EIAs. The presence of an ti-HCV antibodies was confirmed with 3 different immunoblot assays in 16 of 27 sera (34.0%) while 10 samples (21.3%) had indeterminate profi le with antibodies usually directed against structural core antigen. A nti-HCV core ISM response was found in 12 of 47 sera (25.5%) and HCV v iremia detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure was o bserved in 15 samples (31.9%). A comparative study of the different ma rkers confirmed a good correlation between a strong antibody response in EIAs and immunoblot assays and the presence of HCV RNA in the serum ; only 2 immunoblot indeterminate samples were PCR positive. An associ ation was observed between IgM antibodies against 'core' epitopes and HCV RNA carriage: all IgM-positive sera were found positive by PCR. Ho wever, the direct detection of viral genome remains the best method fo r identifiying HCV carriers in the blood donor population.