0000000000288863
AUTHOR
T Rothaar
Performance of the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR Test, Version 2.0, an Automated Reverse Transcription-PCR Quantitative System for Hepatitis C Virus Load Determination
ABSTRACT A clinical evaluation of an automated quantitative PCR assay, the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, version 2.0 (v2.0), was carried out to assess the performance of this test in comparison with that of the previous, manual version, the AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, and with that of nested PCR. Serial dilutions of serum samples infected with genotype 1b, 2a, or 3, as well as synthetic RNA transcripts and serum samples derived from 87 patients with chronic hepatitis C and infected with genotype 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, or 5, were analyzed to determine the ability of the system to efficiently quantify various hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes. These experiments showed that the COBAS AMP…
Clinical evaluation and applications of the Amplicor HBV Monitor™ test, a quantitative HBV DNA PCR assay
Viral load has emerged recently as a reliable marker of disease progression and therapeutic efficacy in chronic infections, including AIDS and hepatitis C. The clinical management of type B hepatitis could also be improved by monitoring viremia levels in patients with chronic liver disease undergoing anti-viral treatment. To address this question we evaluated the performance of a newly developed, quantitative PCR assay (Amplicor HBV Monitor test, Roche Diagnostic Systems) in the assessment of viremia changes over time in a group of 45 patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH) who received interferon treatment. Of the 45 patients, 14 were HBsAg and anti-HBeAg positive and 31 HBsAg, HBeAg …