Correlation between serum HCV RNA and aminotransferase levels in patients with chronic HCV infection.

Cross-sectional studies on the correlation between serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C have yielded conflicting results. We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the correlation between HCV viremia and serum ALT levels in individual patients over time. Serial samples (mean 9) from 25 patients with chronic HCV infection, including interferon-treated and untreated immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients, collected over a period of 1-4.

Effect of human immunodeficiency virus infection on hepatitis C virus infection in hemophiliacs.

Chronic liver disease due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major problem in hemophiliacs. Recent reports suggested that hemophiliacs coinfected with hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have an increased incidence of liver failure but the mechanism of accelerated liver injury is not clear. We tested plasma from 100 hemophiliacs for anti-HCV by second generation ELISA, anti-HIV by EIA, and HCV RNA and HIV RNA by branched DNA and polymerase chain reaction assays to determine if hemophiliacs coinfected with HCV and HIV have higher HCV RNA levels and more active liver disease.

Accurate quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA from all HCV genotypes by using branched-DNA technology.

In studies monitoring disease progression and therapeutic response, it is essential that the method used for hepatitis C virus (HCV) quantification not be influenced by genotypic variability. The branched DNA assay provides a reliable method for the quantification of HCV RNA. A modified set of oligonucleotide probes for the branched DNA assay was developed to enhance the efficiency of binding to genotypic variants of HCV.

Evaluation of branched DNA signal amplification for the detection of hepatitis C virus RNA.

There is an increasing need for a practical assay to measure HCV RNA to assess the viral burden in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection as viral load relates to transmission and therapeutic response. This study evaluates branched DNA (bDNA) signal amplification, a technique that avoids many of the pitfalls of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The bDNA assay uses a microtitre well format and a series of capture, target and amplification probes that bind RNA to the well and then successively bind oligonucleotides to the RNA and branched DNA molecules to the oligonucleotides.

Rapid nucleic acid assay for detection of bacteria with tetM-mediated tetracycline resistance.

A novel nucleic acid assay has been developed to screen bacterial populations for the presence of the tetM structural gene. The method involves the specific hybridization of several synthetic oligonucleotides to the gene in a crude bacterial lysate solution. As few as 1.