title: Serum HCV RNA levels in chronic HCV hepatitis measured by quantitative PCR assay; correlation with serum AST.
abstract: A quantitative PCR assay is described for serum HCV RNA which is based on a recombinant competitive titrating RNA template. This template is derived from the 5' non-coding region of the genome and generates a shorter PCR product (93 bp) than that from the serum-derived wild type genomes (279) bp from the same sets of primers. By using this assay we have found serum HCV RNA concentrations ranging between 3.3 x 10(2) and 6.6 x 10(8) viral genomes/ml of serum in 15 samples from 10 different patients, 9 cases of chronic hepatitis and one case of fulminant hepatitis. Comparison of viraemias with serum transaminase levels has shown a good correlation for individual patients between these two parameters during chronic HCV hepatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Monjardino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000637:Transaminases / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D000637:Transaminases