Gargiulo Franco, De Francesco Maria Antonia, Pinsi Gabriele, Pollara Caterina, Terlenghi Luigina, Perandin Francesca, Manca Nino
Laboratory of Virology, Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy.
J Med Virol. 2003 Feb;69(2):202-6. doi: 10.1002/jmv.10284.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotyping, combined with quantitative evaluation of HCV RNA, may be beneficial for the management of chronic hepatitis C and in the selection of candidates for interferon treatment. In this study, the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, a commercially available quantitative assay for HCV RNA, was used. Amplification products obtained from HCV-positive cases were subjected to direct sequencing and genotyping based on seven phylogenetically informative regions within the 5'UTR. Results were compared with those obtained by INNO-LiPA assay. Typing results yielded by both methods were in complete accordance for type and subtype assignment. Twenty-nine of 500 specimens (5.8%) were unclassifiable and belonged to samples with a titer of <70.000 IU, as determined by quantitative assay. Despite this limitation, the overall gain in efficiency, the low rate of test failure and a better resolution of mixed genotypes all constitute a considerable advantage of this system over the commercial hybridization technique for routine clinical laboratory use.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）基因分型，结合HCV RNA的定量评估，可能有助于慢性丙型肝炎的管理以及干扰素治疗候选者的选择。在本研究中，使用了COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR检测，这是一种用于HCV RNA的市售定量检测方法。从HCV阳性病例获得的扩增产物基于5'UTR内的七个系统发育信息区域进行直接测序和基因分型。将结果与通过INNO-LiPA检测获得的结果进行比较。两种方法得出的分型结果在类型和亚型分配上完全一致。通过定量检测确定，500份标本中有29份（5.8%）无法分类，属于滴度<70,000 IU的样本。尽管有此局限性，但该系统在效率上的总体提升、低检测失败率以及对混合基因型的更好分辨能力，相较于用于常规临床实验室的商业杂交技术，均构成了相当大的优势。
