Correlation between detection of Hepatitis C Virus Antibodies in saliva and Hepatitis C virus RNA in serum

Purpose: To define the correlation between hepatitis C virus antibodies in saliva and hepatitis C virus antibodies and RNA in serum, and to evaluate the use of this technique in epidemiologic studies.Materials and methods: Blood and saliva samples were obtained from 75 anti-HCV(+) and 75 anti-HCV(-) participants when visiting our clinic. Altough there are several saliva collection devices, we used oral swabs which are used for patients with dry mouth problem. Detection of the HCV antibodies was performed using Ortho HCV 3.0 SAVe ELISA. Blood samples were analyzed for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA in our hospital laboratory.Results: Out of 75 anti HCV(+) patients 38 serum samples found positive for HCV-RNA and 65 oral fluid samples were anti-HCV(+). The control group of 75 anti-HCV(-) serum samples, ten had corresponding oral fluid samples that were HCV antibody-positive, 65 were HCV antiboy-negative. It yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 86.7% and 85.3%, respectively. Thirty eight participants who were positive for HCV-RNA, 36 of them were also positive for HCV antibodies in oral fluid. Analyzing the results, a significant correlation between the detection of HCV antibodies in oral fluid and HCV-RNA in serum was obtained with a sensitivity of 94.7%.Conclusion: The implementation of a non-invasive method such as saliva collection is easy and less expensive to perrform than venipuncture, and can be done by unskilled personnel. According to our sensitivity and specificity results, this technique is an alternative for the epidemiological studies.