Detection of dengue viral RNA using a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay.

Faster techniques are needed for the early diagnosis of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever during the acute viremic phase of infection. An isothermal nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) assay was optimized to amplify viral RNA of all four dengue virus serotypes by a set of universal primers and to type the amplified products by serotype-specific capture probes. The NASBA assay involved the use of silica to extract viral nucleic acid, which was amplified without thermocycling.

RANTES and MIP-1beta mRNA expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells: transcript quantification using NASBA technology.

The importance of chemokines in the immune response, as well as in a range of specific disease states, is becoming increasingly apparent. The role of CC- (or beta-) chemokines and their receptors in the pathology and mechanisms of HIV-1 infection has served to intensify interest in these factors. Although the functionality of these factors resides in their protein forms, assays for the detection and quantification of these protein factors in clinical samples are not readily available.

Macrophage-derived chemokine gene expression in human and macaque cells: mRNA quantification using NASBA technology.

Macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC) is a CC-chemokine that inhibits infection by both macrophage- and T cell-tropic strains of HIV-1. This suppressor activity has led to great interest in fully characterizing the role of MDC in the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection. Methods for the quantitation of constitutive levels of MDC protein in vivo are lacking.

Quantitative evaluation of simian immunodeficiency virus infection using NASBA technology.

The most commonly used animal model for the study of HIV-1 infection in humans is the infection of non-human primates by simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). The animal hosts used most frequently are different species of macaques, which are readily infected with SIV, and can therefore be used to study natural infection, pathogenesis, therapy, and vaccine efficacy. The study of HIV-1 infection in humans relies heavily on the quantification of HIV-1 load (i.

Genotyping of the CCR5 chemokine receptor by isothermal NASBA amplification and differential probe hybridization.

The human CCR5 chemokine receptor functions as a coreceptor with CD4 for infection by macrophage-tropic isolates of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). A mutated CCR5 allele which encodes a protein that does not function as a coreceptor for HIV-1 has been identified. Thus, expression of the wild-type and/or mutation allele is relevant to determining the infectability of patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and affects disease progression in vivo.