A SENSITIVE PCR ASSAY SYSTEM FOR THE QUANTITATION OF VIRAL GENOME EQUIVALENTS - HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 (HIV-1) AND HEPATITIS-BVIRUS (HBV)

A sensitive and reliable quantitative method based on the polymerase c hain reaction (PCR) and the reverse transcription polymerase chain rea ction (RT-PCR) to detect and quantify human immunodeficiency virus (HI V-1) and hepatitis B virus (HBV), respectively, was developed. The sam ples are co-processed together with two internal standards (calibrator s). The amplicons are separated on denaturing polyacrylamide gels and co-detected and quantitated by laser induced fluorescence. HIV-I and H BV containing biological samples, including samples from international test panels, were accurately quantitated. The procedure has proven to be a valuable tool in the quality control of biologicals such as plas ma products and may serve to monitor disease progression and response to antiviral therapy.