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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2003, p. 3046-3050, Vol. 41, No. 7
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.7.3046-3050.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantification of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in Liver Specimens and Sera from Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Coinfection by Using the Versant HCV RNA 3.0 (Branched DNA-Based) DNA Assay

Rosamaria Tedeschi,1* Eliana Pivetta,1 Stefania Zanussi,1 Ettore Bidoli,2 Mirna Ros,1 Giampiero di Gennaro,3 Guglielmo Nasti,3 and Paolo De Paoli1

Microbiology-Immunology and Virology Department,1 Epidemiology Unit,2 Medical Oncology A, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, IRCCS, I-33081 Aviano, Italy3

Received 24 February 2003/ Returned for modification 11 April 2003/ Accepted 28 April 2003

The new generation assay Versant HCV RNA 3.0v (Bayer Diagnostics) was evaluated to quantify hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels in liver biopsy specimens from patients with HCV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection. A total of 25 liver biopsies and sera collected at the time of liver biopsy were used. The efficiency of HCV RNA recovery from spiked samples was between 38.6 and 50.7%, and reproducible measurements of viral load were observed (the intra- and interrun coefficients of variation were 0.5 to 13% and 3.5 to 24.7%, respectively), with good specificity and sensitivity. Linearity was evaluated in the range of 96,154 to 769 IU/µg by using a serially diluted high-titer sample. Coinfected patients had high HCV RNA viral loads in serum and liver (498,471 IU/ml and 231,495 IU/µg, respectively), and both levels were correlated (r = 0.63; P < 0.01). The amount of hepatic HCV RNA was significantly higher among patients with genotype 1 than among patients with genotype 3 (P < 0.01). The virological end-of-treatment response in the serum was associated with a lower pretreatment intrahepatic HCV viral load (P = 0.03). The new version of b-DNA is a sensitive, specific, and reproducible method for quantitating HCV RNA in the liver. Given its positive analytical performance, the assay will be used to evaluate the HCV RNA levels in the serum and liver during follow-up of patients treated with an anti-HCV therapeutic regimen.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Microbiology-Immunology and Virology Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, IRCCS, via Pedemontana Occ. 12, I-33081 Aviano, Italy. Phone: 39-0434-659421. Fax: 39-0434-659402. E-mail: rtedeschi{at}cro.it.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2003, p. 3046-3050, Vol. 41, No. 7
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.7.3046-3050.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Winnock, M., Salmon-Ceron, D., Dabis, F., Chene, G. (2004). Interaction between HIV-1 and HCV infections: towards a new entity?. J Antimicrob Chemother 53: 936-946 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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