[
    {
        "id": "osp-11767",
        "type": "article-journal",
        "title": "Fluctuating antibody response in a cohort of hepatitis C patients",
        "author": [
            {
                "family": "Al Dhahry",
                "given": "Said HS"
            },
            {
                "family": "Daar",
                "given": "Shahina"
            },
            {
                "family": "Rajapakse",
                "given": "Jameel C."
            },
            {
                "family": "MWWB",
                "given": "Situsekara"
            },
            {
                "family": "Al Toqi",
                "given": "Fadhila SS"
            },
            {
                "family": "Kaminski",
                "given": "Geraldine Z."
            }
        ],
        "URL": "https://omanscience.com/en/articles/fluctuating-antibody-response-in-a-cohort-of-hepatitis-c-patients",
        "language": "en",
        "issued": {
            "date-parts": [
                [
                    2025
                ]
            ]
        },
        "container-title": "Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal",
        "volume": "4",
        "issue": "1",
        "page": "33-38",
        "DOI": "10.18295/2075-0528.2596",
        "publisher": "Sultan Qaboos University",
        "ISSN": "2075-051X",
        "abstract": "Objective: This project was designed to longitudinally study persons who had antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) to characterise the serologic course of infection. Methods: The subjects were 149 multitransfused patients (141 with thalassaemia major, 3 with thalassaemia intermedia, and 5 with sickle cell anaemia) who had been regularly followed up for 3 to 7 years. Sequential serum samples obtained semi-annually between January 1994 and January 2001 were tested, prospectively, by second or third generation HCV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), followed by confirmatory recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA-2 or RIBA-3). Results: Of the 149 patients, 90 did not seroconvert to HCV, whereas 59 had detectable antibodies. On the basis of RIBA results in these 59 patients, 24 (41%) had persistent high antibody levels to structural and non structural HCV antigens, 11 (19%) had persistent low antibody levels, 17 (29%) showed fluctuating antibody levels, and in 5 patients (8%) there was a total or a partial disappearance of specific antibodies (seroreversion), mainly anti-core antibodies. Two patients (3%) had antibody responses that did not fit into any of these four categories. In patients with fluctuating antibody levels, there were periods ranging from 6 months to 2 years when anti-HCV antibodies could not be detected. Conclusion: This study shows that the antibody response to HCV in patients who receive frequent blood transfusions is very variable. Individuals who exhibit intermittent seropositivity are a challenge to diagnosis."
    }
]