COMPARISON OF COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION-POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION (RT-PCR) FOR THE QUANTIFICATION OF HEPATITIS-CVIRUS (HCV) RNA

A competitive reverse transcription (RT)-nested polymerase chain react ion (PCR) assay for HCV RNA was compared with the Roche Amplicor HCV M onitor assay, based on non-competitive, single step RT-PCR. A total of 83 serum samples were tested in parallel by both assays. All samples could be quantified by competitive RT-PCR (cPCR), whereas seven were n egative by the non-competitive assay (ncPCR). The HCV RNA titre of the discordant samples assessed by cPCR was significantly lower than that of the remaining 76 (P < 0.001). Absolute HCV RNA titres were higher by cPCR than by ncPCR (P < 0.001), even if the results of the two meth ods were statistically correlated (P < 0.001). HCV RNA titre tested by cPCR was not significantly different between samples infected with ge notype 1 or 2. However, values obtained by ncPCR were higher in sample s with genotype 1 (P<0.001). Furthermore, all seven discordant samples were infected with genotype 2. When both methods were used to measure serial dilutions of standard HCV RNA, we observed a bias to lower mea surements with the ncPCR kit: This study shows a good correlation betw een the results of two PCR-based methods for the quantification HCV RN A. However, the degree of sensitivity and the absolute HCV RNA titre m easured may vary according to the assay used. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scienc e B.V.