Performance evaluation of the VERSANT HCV RNA qualitative assay by using transcription-mediated amplification

A preclinical evaluation of a qualitative assay for the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) was conducted according to the guidelines of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Our results showed that this assay, HCV TMA, detected 95% of samples with HCV RNA concentrations of 5.3 IU/ml and 29 copies/ml. HCV TMA showed an overall specificity of 99.6% and was highly reproducible, detecting 99.3% of samples with HCV RNA concentrations of 50 copies/ml across seven different lots of reagents. Experiments with clinical samples showed that HCV TMA detected all HCV genotypes with similar efficiencies, detecting > or = 95% of samples at 50 HCV RNA copies/ml from patients infected with HCV genotypes 1a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a. In experiments with RNA transcripts, HCV TMA detected > or = 96.6% of transcripts derived from HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2c, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a at 50 HCV RNA copies/ml. Detection of transcripts derived from HCV genotype 2b was slightly lower (88.4%) at 50 copies/ml but was 97.0% at 75 copies/ml. In addition, HCV TMA exhibited robust performance in detecting HCV RNA in samples subjected to various conditions commonly encountered in a clinical laboratory, including long-term storage, multiple freeze-thaw cycles, different collection tubes, and the presence of endogenous substances, commonly prescribed drugs, or other microorganisms and viruses. With its high sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and equivalent genotype reactivity, HCV TMA may provide an attractive alternative for routine qualitative HCV RNA testing in clinical laboratories.