This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chevaliez, S.
Right arrow Articles by Pawlotsky, J.-M.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chevaliez, S.
Right arrow Articles by Pawlotsky, J.-M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2009, p. 1726-1732, Vol. 47, No. 6
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01300-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Performance of the Abbott Real-Time PCR Assay Using m2000sp and m2000rt for Hepatitis C Virus RNA Quantification{triangledown}

Stéphane Chevaliez, Magali Bouvier-Alias, and Jean-Michel Pawlotsky*

French National Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis B, C, and Delta, Department of Virology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Université Paris 12, and INSERM U955, Créteil, France

Received 9 July 2008/ Returned for modification 3 December 2008/ Accepted 6 April 2009

Quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is essential for the everyday management of chronic hepatitis C therapy. "Real-time" PCR techniques are potentially more sensitive than classical PCR techniques, are not prone to carryover contamination, and have a consistently wider dynamic range of quantification. Thus, they are rapidly replacing other technologies for routine quantification of HCV RNA. We extensively evaluated the intrinsic characteristics and clinical performance of the m2000sp-m2000rt Abbott real-time PCR platform for HCV RNA quantification. The study shows that the m2000sp-m2000rt platform is sensitive, specific, and precise; that the results are reproducible; and that the platform has a broad dynamic range of quantification. When comparing HCV RNA levels measured in the same individuals with the m2000sp-m2000rt platform and the third-generation branched-DNA assay, a trend toward a modest overestimation of HCV RNA levels was observed in the m2000sp-m2000rt platform in all genotypes except genotype 5. The differences, however, were unlikely to have any impact in clinical practice. In conclusion, our study shows that the Abbott m2000 real-time PCR system for HCV RNA quantification is sensitive, specific, and precise; that the results are reproducible; and that the platform's broad dynamic range of quantification is well suited to HCV RNA monitoring in the clinical setting.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Virology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, 51 avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 94010 Créteil, France. Phone: 33-1-4981-2827. Fax: 33-1-4981-4831. E-mail: jean-michel.pawlotsky{at}hmn.aphp.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 April 2009.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2009, p. 1726-1732, Vol. 47, No. 6
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01300-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.