Abstract

Accurate quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA from all HCV genotypes by using branched-DNA technology. J Detmer , R Lagier , J Flynn , C Zayati , J Kolberg , M Collins , M Urdea and R Sánchez-Pescador Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, California 94608-2916, USA. ABSTRACT In studies monitoring disease progression and therapeutic response, it is essential that the method used for hepatitis C virus (HCV) quantification not be influenced by genotypic variability. The branched DNA assay provides a reliable method for the quantification of HCV RNA. A modified set of oligonucleotide probes for the branched DNA assay was developed to enhance the efficiency of binding to genotypic variants of HCV. The improved branched DNA assay (HCV RNA 2.0) yielded highly reproducible quantification of hepatitis C virus RNA and displayed a nearly 600-fold dynamic range in quantification up to 120 Meq of HCV RNA per ml. The quantification limit was set at 0.2 Meg of HCV RNA per ml to ensure a specificity of > or = 95%. With this lowered quantification limit and the enhanced hybridization of the probes, the HCV RNA 2.0 assay exhibited a high level of sensitivity (96%) and was virtually unaffected by the genotypic variability of HCV. The HCV RNA 2.0 assay may be a useful tool for following HCV RNA levels throughout the course of disease, selecting patients for therapy, and evaluating therapeutic response. CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article J. Clin. Microbiol. April 1996 vol. 34 no. 4 901-907 » Abstract PDF Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in ASM journals Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of JCM Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Citing articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Detmer, J. Articles by Sánchez-Pescador, R. Search for related content PubMed PubMed citation Articles by Detmer, J. Articles by Sánchez-Pescador, R. Related Content Load related web page information Social Bookmarking CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? current issue December 2011, volume 49, issue 12 Alert me to new issues of JCM About JCM Subscribers Authors Reviewers Advertisers Inquiries from the Press Permissions & Commercial Reprints ASM Journals Public Access Policy JCM RSS Feeds 1752 N Street N.W. • Washington DC 20036 202.737.3600 • 202.942.9355 fax • journals@asmusa.org Print ISSN: 0095-1137 Online ISSN: 1098-660X Copyright © 2011 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to JCM .asm.org, visit: http://intl- JCM .asm.org | More Info» var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5821458-10"); pageTracker._trackPageview();