Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1996-10-16
pubmed:abstractText
The detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is believed to be the most reliable method to diagnose HCV infections. A pitfall of nested PCR is that it is prone to contamination. Single step reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was performed, prospectively, on 80 sera from 59 patients with a set of primers that amplified a 273 bp sequence unique to the 5' noncoding (NC) region of the HCV genome. Nested PCR, was performed on all PCR negative specimens with a set of primers that amplified a 255 bp internal to the original primers. Single step RT-PCR was positive on 45 sera from 35 patients following gel electrophoresis and on two additional sera from two patients following Southern blot hybridization. Nested PCR was positive on two more sera following gel electrophoresis of the nested PCR products. These two patients were seropositive and subsequent serum from one patient was positive by single step PCR. Three additional sera were positive following Southern blot analysis of the nested PCR products. Two patients were seropositive and had elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. The third patient was seronegative with normal ALT level and was considered a false positive. The remaining seronegative control specimens were PCR negative by both methods. The majority of PCR positive patients (82%) had elevated ALT levels, while the majority of PCR negative seropositive patients had normal ALT levels. We conclude that single step PCR is a sensitive test for the laboratory diagnoses of the majority of the HCV infections.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0890-8508
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
10
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
173-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1996
pubmed:articleTitle
Evaluation of PCR and nested PCR for laboratory diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington 06030, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article