title: Performance evaluation of Puritan® universal transport system (UniTranz-RT™) for preservation and transport of clinical viruses.
abstract: The ability of a non-propagating microbial transport medium to maintain the viability of clinically relevant viruses was compared to a similar commercial medium to establish performance equivalence. Two dilutions of stock of test viruses, namely adenovirus (AdV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), echovirus Type 30 (EV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2, influenza A, parainfluenza 3 (PIV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and varicella zoster virus (VZV), were spiked into Puritan® Medical Products Company Universal Transport System (UniTranz-RT™) and BD(TM) Universal Viral Transport System (UVT) and incubated at 4 °C and room temperature (RT) for up to 72 hr. Post incubation assessment of recovery of AdV, EV, HSV-2, PIV, and VZV from UniTranz-RT™ and UVT using shell vial assays followed by immunofluorescence staining demonstrated statistically significant differences between both transport media. In general, significantly higher recoveries of AdV, EV, and VZV were found from UniTranz-RT™ than UVT whereas HSV-2 and PIV were recovered better from UVT than UniTranz-RT™, under specific test conditions. The recovery of HSV-1, influenza A, PIV, and RSV showed no significant differences between transport media. Sulforhodamine B-based assay analysis of UniTranz-RT™ lots prior to and at expiration exhibited no cytotoxicity. The overall results of the study validate the full performance of UniTranz-RT™ as a viral transport medium and establish its effectiveness on par with the UVT.
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brasel
authors.affiliation: 559 Stafford Estates Drive, Salisbury, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Kunapuli T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Madhusudhan
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Krystle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Agans
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dearen
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Sara L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sherwood
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000254:growth & development; D003470:Culture Media; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000254:growth & development; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000254:growth & development; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000254:growth & development; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D050296:Microbial Viability; D011309:Preservation, Biological / Q000379:methods; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000254:growth & development; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014780:Viruses / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media
keywords: UVT; UniTranz-RT™; cytotoxicity; pre-analytics; transport media; viruses