H. Mustafa et al., IMPROVED SENSITIVITY OF ASTROVIRUS-SPECIFIC RT-PCR FOLLOWING CULTURE OF STOOL SAMPLES IN CACO-2 CELLS, JOURNAL OF CLINICAL VIROLOGY, 11(2), 1998, pp. 103-107
Background: During an epidemiological study on the incidence of astrov
irus infection in children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis, a
Northern hybridization method was used to screen stool samples for ast
rovirus RNA. Positive results were confirmed using reverse transcripta
se-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which showed surprisingly low s
ensitivity. The low sensitivity of the RT-PCR method was considered li
kely to be due to the presence of non-specific inhibitors. Objective:
To develop and use a simple culture method to improve the sensitivity
of diagnosis of astrovirus in clinical stool samples using RT-RCR. Stu
dy design: Stool samples from children hospitalized with acute gastroe
nteritis were screened for astrovirus using Northern hybridization. Th
e presence of astrovirus RNA was then confirmed using an astrovirus-sp
ecific RT-PCR. Hybridization positive samples that failed to generate
an RT-PCR product were cultured in CaCO-2 cells for 48 h. RNA was isol
ated from cultures and re-tested using the same RT-PCR method. Results
: Using Northern hybridization, human astroviruses were detected in th
e stools of 31 patients and confirmed by RT-PCR in 16 samples. RNA ext
racted directly from 15 faecal specimens could not be amplified by RT-
PCR. After culture for 48 h in CaCO-2 cells, RNA extracted from these
samples could be amplified and confirmed the presence of astrovirus in
all 15 specimens. Conclusions: Development of a simplified culture me
thod for astrovirus positive faecal specimens improved the sensitivity
of astrovirus-specific RT-PCR from 52 to 100%. The technique should b
e of value as a confirmatory test in surveys of human astrovirus infec
tion. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.