Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 12 1996, 2933-2936, Vol 34, No. 12
T Morris, B Robertson and M Gallagher
We describe the application of a new fluorogenic probe-based PCR assay
(TaqMan; Perkin Elmer Corp./Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) for
the detection of hepatitis C virus RNA in serum and plasma. This assay
allows for the direct direction of specific PCR products within minutes of
completion of the PCR by monitoring the increase in fluorescence of a
dye-labeled oligonucleotide probe. We evaluated this assay by comparing the
results obtained by nested PCR with those obtained by TaqMan PCR. Test
samples included two separate dilutions series of plasma samples from
experimentally infected chimpanzees and a panel of 48 serum specimens from
patients with community-acquired hepatitis C virus. The quantity of HCV RNA
in each chimpanzee plasma sample was determined by using branched DNA
(bDNA) signal amplification assay (Quantiplex HCV RNA assay; Chiron Corp.,
Emeryville, Calif.). Both PCR assays demonstrated similar levels of
detection and could reliably detect 13 bDNA genome equivalents per sample.
We found an overall concordance of 88% between results of two PCR assays
with the community-acquired panel, which resolved to 100% when discrepant
samples were retested by nested PCR. TaqMan compared favorably with nested
PCR with key advantages of speed, increased throughput, and decreased
opportunity for false-positive results because of elimination of
second-round amplification.
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Rapid reverse transcription-PCR detection of hepatitis C virus RNA in serum by using the TaqMan fluorogenic detection system
Hepatitis Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. | Clin. Microbiol. Rev. |
|---|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|