DETECTION OF ALL SEROTYPES OF HUMAN ASTROVIRUS BY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

A reverse transcription (RT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was d esigned for the detection of astroviruses based on a conserved nucleot ide sequence in the 3'-end of the genome of the 7 known serotypes of h uman astrovirus. Thirty-eight samples found to contain astrovirus by e lectron microscopy (EM) were used for evaluation of the assay. The sam ples were dialyzed for 1 h to remove potential low molecular weight in hibitors of the RT-PCR. Immediately before RT, 1 mu l Of the samples w ere incubated at 94 degrees C for 2 min to disrupt the viral particles . Thirty-six of the samples were positive by PCR, including samples of all 7 serotypes. The two samples that were negative, could have been false positive by EM, or the viral RNA could have been degraded. All o ther viruses examined, including calici-, rota- and enteroviruses, wer e negative.