Performance characteristics and comparison of Abbott and artus real-time systems for hepatitis B virus DNA quantification

Virological monitoring of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA is critical to the management of HBV infection. With several HBV DNA quantification assays available, it is important to use the most efficient testing system for virological monitoring. In this study, we evaluated the performance characteristics and comparability of three HBV DNA quantification systems: Abbott HBV real-time PCR (Abbott PCR), artus HBV real-time PCR with QIAamp DNA blood kit purification (artus-DB), and artus HBV real-time PCR with the QIAamp DSP virus kit purification (artus-DSP). The lower limits of detection of these systems were established against the WHO international standards for HBV DNA and were found to be 1.43, 82, and 9 IU/ml, respectively. The intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation of plasma samples (1 to 6 log(10) IU/ml) ranged between 0.05 to 8.34% and 0.16 to 3.48% for the Abbott PCR, 1.53 to 26.85% and 0.50 to 12.89% for artus-DB, and 0.29 to 7.42% and 0.94 to 3.01% for artus-DSP, respectively. Ninety HBV clinical samples were used for comparison of assays, and paired quantitative results showed strong correlation by linear regression analysis (artus-DB with Abbott PCR, r = 0.95; Abbott PCR with artus-DSP, r = 0.97; and artus-DSP with artus-DB, r = 0.94). Bland-Altman analysis showed a good level of agreement for Abbott PCR and artus-DSP, with a mean difference of 0.10 log(10) IU/ml and limits of agreement of -0.91 to 1.11 log(10) IU/ml. No genotype-specific bias was seen in all three systems for HBV genotypes A, C, and D, which are predominant in this region. This finding illustrates that the Abbott real-time HBV and artus-DSP systems show more comparable performance than the artus-DB system, meeting the current guidelines for assays to be used in the management of hepatitis B.     

丙型肝炎病毒抗原检测方法的建立

目的以特异性单克隆抗体为基础建立丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)抗原检测的酶联免疫吸附(ELISA)法,探索从血浆或血清中检测HCV抗原的可能性.方法利用我们制备的抗-HCV核心及NS3区单克隆抗体(McAbs),进行多种交叉组合模式的分析,确立实验室模式,并测定348份义务献血员血样,确定此方法的Cutofff值,并分析146份抗-HCV阳性及225份抗-HCV阴性血浆,阳性结果用套式PCR试剂盒确证.结果构建了以抗-HCV核心区单抗C39及NS3区单抗C7-6为包被抗体,以C39及NS3区C7-57为标记抗体的夹心ELISA检测模型,以C7为抗原,其检出灵敏度为5ng/ml,其Cutoff值为阴性对照均值±0.25.146份抗-HCV阳性样本中,11份为抗原反应阳性,225份抗-HCV阴性样本中,16份为抗原阳性,这些阳性样本经PCR检测后,23份为HCVRNA阳性.结论用单抗构建的HCV抗原检测方法分别从抗-HCV阳性及阴性样本中检测出HCV抗原反应阳性样本,并经PCR确证,表明直接从血浆样本中检测HCV抗原是可能的,这将对于HCV和基础研究及控制HCV的传播有重要意义.     

Development and validation of a TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-PCR for rapid detection of feline calicivirus

Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a common cause of upper respiratory tract disease in cats and is associated with interstitial pneumonia, oral ulceration and polyarthritis. Recently, outbreaks have involved a highly virulent FCV that leads to multisystemic signs. Virus isolation and conventional RT-PCR are the most common methods used for FCV diagnosis. However, real-time RT-PCR offers a rapid, sensitive, specific and easy tool for nucleic acid detection. The objective of this study was to design a TaqMan probe-based, real-time RT-PCR assay for detection of FCV. It was determined in our previous study that the first 120 nucleotides of the 5′ region of the genome are highly conserved among FCV isolates. Primers and a probe specific for this region were designed for a real-time RT-PCR assay to detect FCV. Initial validation was done using 15 genetically diverse isolates. Also, 122 samples were tested by the new assay and virus isolation. The real-time RT-PCR assay was as sensitive and specific as virus isolation and was far more rapid. This real-time RT-PCR assay targeting the conserved 5′ region of the genome is a fast, economical and accurate method for detection of FCV.     

Comparison of an immunochromatography test with multiplex reverse transcription-PCR for rapid diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus infections

A new commercial rapid 10-min one-step immunochromatography (IC) test, SAS RSV test, was compared to another IC test, Directigen EZ RSV, employing RT-PCR as the "gold standard" for detecting respiratory syncytial virus. Of 102 clinical samples, 79 were positive by RT-PCR, 66 (82.5%) were positive with the SAS RSV test, and 55 (69.6%) were positive with Directigen EZ RSV. The specificity of the new test was 91.3% (21 of 23), similar to that of Directigen EZ RSV (100% [23 of 23]). This test performs well enough to be used for patient care.