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Whole blood as an alternative to plasma for detection of hepatitis C virus RNA
Hubert Darius J Daniel1, Joel David, Paul R Grant
1Department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College, Ida Scudder Road, Vellore 632 004, India.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells are reported to be one of the extrahepatic replication sites contributing to the persistence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Whole-blood and plasma samples from 61 individuals were compared as sources for the detection of HCV RNA. Forty-four of the individuals were receiving antiviral therapy, while 17 were treatment naïve. The quantitation of HCV RNA was done by a sensitive in-house real-time reverse transcription-PCR. When the viral loads in the two types of samples were compared, a correlation coefficient of 0.858 (P < 0.001) was found, indicating that plasma and whole blood are equally acceptable sources for testing for HCV RNA.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells are reported to be one of the extrahepatic replication sites contributing to the persistence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Whole-blood and plasma samples from 61 individuals were compared as sources for the detection of HCV RNA. Forty-four of the individuals were receiving antiviral therapy, while 17 were treatment naïve. The quantitation of HCV RNA was done by a sensitive in-house real-time reverse transcription-PCR. When the viral loads in the two types of samples were compared, a correlation coefficient of 0.858 (P < 0.001) was found, indicating that plasma and whole blood are equally acceptable sources for testing for HCV RNA.
