Multicenter comparison of PCR assays for detection of human herpesvirus 6 DNA in serum.
Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a ubiquitous virus with which infections have been associated with pathologies ranging from delayed bone marrow engraftment to a variety of neurological diseases. The lack of a standardized assay that can be used to detect and estimate HHV-6 DNA contents in various clinical specimens can lead and has led to discordant results among investigators and on the potential association of HHV-6 to diseases. To identify the most reliable and sensitive assays, an identical set of 11 coded serum samples spiked with various quantities of the HHV-6A variant (range, 4 to 400,000 genome copies/ml) was sent to eight independent laboratories around the world. Each laboratory was asked to estimate the HHV-6 DNA content by use of its own protocols and assays. Among the various assays, three TaqMan-based real-time PCR assays yielded quantities that were closest to the quantity of HHV-6 that had been spiked. To provide better homogeneity between the results from the different laboratories working on HHV-6, we propose that investigators interested in quantifying HHV-6 in clinical samples adopt one of these assays.
Flamand
Louis
L
Rheumatology and Immunology Research Center, CHUL Research Center, Room T1-49, 2705 Laurier Blvd., Quebec, Quebec, Canada G1V 4G2. louis.flamand@crchul.ulaval.ca
Gravel
Annie
A
Boutolleau
David
D
Alvarez-Lafuente
Roberto
R
Jacobson
Steve
S
Malnati
Mauro S
MS
Kohn
Debra
D
Tang
Yi-Wei
YW
Yoshikawa
Tetsushi
T
Ablashi
Dharam
D
D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology; D044967:Serum / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes