RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Kassela, Katerina A1 Karakasiliotis, Ioannis A1 Charpantidis, Stefanos A1 Koskinas, John A1 Mylopoulou, Theodora A1 Mimidis, Konstantinos A1 Sarrazin, Christoph A1 Grammatikos, Georgios A1 Mavromara, PenelopeYR 2017 T1 High prevalence of antibodies to core+1/ARF protein in HCV-infected patients with advanced cirrhosis JF Journal of General Virology, VO 98 IS 7 SP 1713 OP 1719 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.000851 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Hepatitis C virus (HCV) possesses a second open reading frame (ORF) within the core gene encoding an additional protein, known as the alternative reading frame protein (ARFP), F or core+1. The biological significance of the core+1/ARF protein remains elusive. However, several independent studies have shown the presence of core+1/ARFP antibodies in chronically HCV-infected patients. Furthermore, a higher prevalence of core+1/ARFP antibodies was detected in patients with HCV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we investigated the incidence of core+1/ARFPantibodies in chronically HCV-infected patients at different stages of cirrhosis in comparison to chronically HCV-infected patients at earlier stages of disease. Using ELISA, we assessed the prevalence of anti-core+1 antibodies in 30 patients with advanced cirrhosis [model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) ≥15] in comparison with 50 patients with mild cirrhosis (MELD <15) and 164 chronic HCV patients without cirrhosis. 28.7 % of HCV patients with cirrhosis were positive for anti-core+1 antibodies, in contrast with 16.5 % of non-cirrhotic HCV patients. Moreover, there was significantly higher positivity for anti-core+1 antibodies in HCV patients with advanced cirrhosis (36.7 %) compared to those with early cirrhosis (24 %) (P<0.05). These findings, together with the high prevalence of anti-core+1 antibodies in HCV patients with HCC, suggest that core+1 protein may have a role in virus-associated pathogenesis, and provide evidence to suggest that the levels of anti-core+1 antibodies may serve as a marker for disease progression., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000851