Hcv rna

HCC was diagnosed based on pathological findings or typical radiological presentations of at least two imaging investigations, including abdominal ultrasonography, hepatic arterial angiography, contrast-enhanced dynamic CT, and MRI [16 (link),17 (link)]. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance scale was used to evaluate the performance status [18 (link)]. Complete blood counts (Sysmex, Kanagawa, Japan) and blood biochemistry data (Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA, USA) were analyzed at the hospital’s central laboratory. HBV infection and HCV infection were defined as the presence of the serum hepatitis B surface antigen and the serum anti-HCV antibody plus detectable HCV RNA, respectively (Roche Diagnostics, Branchburg, NJ, USA). LC was determined based on the presence of an unequivocal clinical, ultrasonographic, or histological analysis.

The lipid profile (TC, TGs, and HDL-C) and alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), fasting glucose (Glu), HBsAg, HBeAg (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL), HBV-DNA (Digene Corp., Gaithersburg, MD), HCV Ab (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, IL), and HCV-RNA levels (Roche Diagnostics, Tokyo, Japan) and HCV genotypes (Roche Diagnostics) were assessed at the clinical pathology or liver research laboratory of the authors’ affiliated hospital using routine automated techniques.

All patients were enrolled from the Outpatient Hepatitis Clinic at Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital between 2008 and 2011. Patients from the HIV/HCV co-infected cohort were initially recruited as part of a large multi-center HCV treatment trial and this study is a secondary analysis of data from that trial. All participants at time of enrollment were older than 18 years of age with a positive IgG or IgM anti-HCV ELISA (Zhongshan Bioengineering, China) and detectable HCV RNA > 15 IU/ml (Roche Molecular Systems, USA). Participants were included if naïve to HCV treatment at time of enrollment. Among HIV/HCV co-infected individuals, all individuals had a positive HIV ELISA (Beijing Wantai, China) with a confirmatory Western blot (MP Biomedicals, Singapore). Due to contraindications to treatment, exclusion criteria included individuals with decompensated cirrhosis, severe cytopenias, pregnancy, breast-feeding status, renal failure, heart failure, or an AIDS-defining illness. A mono-infected cohort using the same criteria was recruited separately for the purpose of this study.