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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1998, p. 2073-2075, Vol. 36, No. 7
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Spontaneous Fluctuations of Viral Load in Untreated Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C by Two Standardized Quantitation Methods: Branched DNA and Amplicor Monitor

Philippe Halfon,1,2,* Marc Bourlière,3,4 Gilles Halimi,2 Hacène Khiri,1 Patrice Bertezene,5 Isabelle Portal,4 Danielle Botta-Fridlund,4 André Pierre Gauthier,4 Monique Jullien,4 Jean Marc Feryn,1 Victoria Gerolami,2 and Guy Cartouzou2

Alphabio Laboratory,1 Department of Biochemistry2 and Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology,4 Hôpital de la Conception, Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Hôpital Saint Joseph,3 and INSERM U 315,5 Marseille, France

Received 25 November 1997/Returned for modification 28 January 1998/Accepted 24 March 1998

Quantitation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum has been used to predict and monitor the efficacy of interferon therapy in chronic HCV infection. We prospectively studied the fluctuation of viremia by a longitudinal follow-up of HCV RNA levels for 2 months in six untreated patients. Spontaneous fluctuations of HCV RNA ranged from 2.8- to 5.7-fold with branched DNA assay and from 2.9- to 5.6-fold with Monitor. These large spontaneous fluctuations (up to 0.75 log), observed daily, weekly, and monthly, raise doubt about the clinical value of a single assessment of pretherapeutic viremia.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire ALPHABIO, Hôpital Ambroise Paré, 23 Rue de Friedland, 13006 Marseille, France. Phone: (33) 4 25 41 00. Fax: (33) 4 91 79 20 44. E-mail: alphabio{at}wanadoo.fr.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1998, p. 2073-2075, Vol. 36, No. 7
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Dufour, D. R., Lott, J. A., Nolte, F. S., Gretch, D. R., Koff, R. S., Seeff, L. B. (2000). Diagnosis and Monitoring of Hepatic Injury. II. Recommendations for Use of Laboratory Tests in Screening, Diagnosis, and Monitoring. Clin. Chem. 46: 2050-2068 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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