Real-time quantitative assay of HCV RNA using the duplex scorpion primer

• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-006-0843-7
• Publication Date: 2006-09-21T09:52:16Z
• Authors: S.-X. Xu; K. Lan; Y.-L. Shan; H. Wang; J.-Y. Luo; F. Cui; Y.-S. Huang; J.-P. Meng; X.-M. Zhang; Y.-B. Yin
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; RNA, Viral; Genome, Viral; Hepacivirus; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sensitivity and Specificity; DNA Primers; 3. Good health

A novel real-time quantitative method for detecting HCV in serum was established in which the duplex scorpion primer was used to provide a unimolecular probing mechanism for hybridizing the highly conserved 5' noncoding region (5' NCR) of the HCV genome specifically. Through methodological evaluation, we found this new method had a wide linearity, high sensitivity, repeatability and specificity. Compared to the commercial TaqMan method, this method was found to be more sensitive and less costly, and the final results were obtained more quickly. Therefore, it could be applied to diagnose and monitor HCV infection in clinical practice.