The ADVIA Centaur infectious disease assays: a technical review

Bayer Healthcare, Diagnostics Division, has developed several new several new assays for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV 1/O/2 on the ADVIA Centaur Immunoassay system. The panel for detection of markers for hepatitis B infection includes assays for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBsAg. Confirmatory, antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs), IgM and IgG antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc Total) and IgM antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc IgM). The hepatitis B panel is complemented by third generation assays for anti-HCV and anti-HIV that concomitantly detects HIV-1 (including group O) and HIV-2. The features of the ADVIA Centaur and the design of the assays combine to deliver state-of-the-art performance. Features, such as disposable sample pipette tips to prevent sample carryover, clot detection and management to verify sample addition, reagent integrity checks to assure accurate reagent addition, auto repeat capabilities and the capacity to maintain up to 30 assays onboard at 2-8 degrees C all contribute to the systems's utility for infectious disease testing. Furthermore, the flexibility of the ADVIA Centaur has allowed for selection of formats to provide optimal assay performance. The anti-HBs, anti-HBc Total and anti-HIV 1/O/2 assays are antigen-bridging assays. The anti-HBc IgM assay is a class-capture two step assay configured for detection of IgM anti-HBc antibodies during acute HBV infection. The anti-HCV assay is an indirect assay utilizing streptavidin-coated microparticles preformed with a combination of recombinant and synthetic peptide antigens from the NS2, NS4, NS5 and core regions of the HCV genome. The HBsAg assay is a sandwich assay with an incubation time of 28 minutes and the HBsAg Confirmatory assay is a fully automated neutralization assay. The availability of these assays on the ADVIA Centaur Immunoassay system enables laboratories to consolidate other immunoassays along with the infectious disease assays for workstation operation and efficiencies.