title: QIAamp MinElute virus kit effectively extracts viral nucleic acids from cerebrospinal fluids and nasopharyngeal swabs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nucleic acid preparation from a variety of clinical specimens requires efficient target recovery and amplification inhibitor removal and is critical for successful molecular diagnosis. The QIAamp MinElute Virus kit (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA) was compared to the two existing methods currently used in our laboratory, IsoQuick (Orca Research Inc., Bothell, WA) for DNA extraction and RNAzol B (Leedo Laboratories Inc., Houston, TX) for RNA extraction, of viral nucleic acids.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 150 clinical specimens, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS), were used to determine the extraction efficiency of the MinElute compared to the other two methods. Nucleic acid recovery, hands-on time, turn-around-time and cost were compared across all kits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was complete concordance between the MinElute and IsoQuick/RNAzol kits when herpes simplex virus (HSV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), influenza A virus or enteroviruses were detected using a colorimetric microtiter plate PCR system. The kits were equivalent in their ability to detect either DNA or RNA with superior ability to recover a high quality and quantity of RNA. With the potential to process larger specimen volumes, the MinElute kit can significantly shorten processing time from 2h to 50-55min.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although relatively high test kit costs were noted, the MinElute kit provides another rapid and user-friendly specimen processing tool in the diagnostic molecular microbiology laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Sefers
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rickmyre
authors.forename: Amondrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blackman
authors.forename: Haijing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Yi-Wei
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology*; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic