NESTED POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR HIGH-SENSITIVITY DETECTION OF ENTEROVIRAL RNA IN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES

A method based on nested polymerase chain reaction was developed for t he detection of enteroviral genomes in biological samples. By taking a dvantage of the conserved 5' noncoding region of the enteroviral RNA, two sets of primers were utilized, enabling the detection either of a broad range of enteroviruses or of group B coxsackieviruses only. The sensitivity of the method is close to the detection of single molecule s of viral RNA in as much as 1 mg of tissue sample. A preliminary stud y showed the usefulness of this technique for the analysis of endomyoc ardial biopsy samples from patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyop athy and myocarditis.