Evaluation of clinical usefulness of second-generation HCV core antigen assay: comparison with COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR assay version 2.0

: Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important etiologic agent for chronic liver diseases. Methods: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of second‐generation HCV core antigen assay by comparing the results of the assay with those of the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR version 2.0 (COBAS v2.0). Results: HCV core antigen was detectable by this assay in 142/149 (95.3%) of serotype 1 (3821±322 fmol/l; mean±SD), in 56/58 (96.6%) of serotype 2 (2589±449 fmol/l), and in 6/6 (100%) of serotypes 1+2 (1240±548 fmol/l). The HCV core antigen levels measured by this assay correlated well with the HCV RNA levels by COBAS v2.0 (r=0.848, P