title: Comparison of Abbott RealTime genotype II, GeneMatrix restriction fragment mass polymorphism and Sysmex HISCL HCV Gr assays for hepatitis C virus genotyping.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype is a predictive marker for treatment response. We sequentially evaluated the performances of two nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) and one serology assay for HCV genotype: Abbott RealTime genotype II (RealTime II), GeneMatrix restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP), and Sysmex HISCL HCV Gr (HISCL Gr).
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 281 clinical samples with three assays. The accuracy was assessed using the HCV Genotype Performance Panel PHW204 (SeraCare Life Sciences) for two NAATs. Discrepant cases were re-genotyped by the Versant HCV v.2.0 (line probe 2.0) assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With the RealTime II assay, clinic samples were analyzed as follows: genotypes 1b (43.1%), 2 (40.2%), 1 subtypes other than 1a and 1b (12.5%), 3 (1.8%), 4 (1.4%), 1a (0.7%), 6 (0.4%), and mixed (1.1%). The RealTime II and RFMP assays showed a type concordance rate of 97.5% (274/281) (κ=0.80) and no significant discordance (p=0.25). Both assays accurately genotyped all samples in the Performance Panel by the subtype level. The HISCL Gr assay showed concordance rates of about 91% (κ<0.40) and statistically significant discordances with two NAATs (p<0.05). In confirmation tests, the results of RFMP assay were the most consistent with those of Versant 2.0 assay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The three HCV assays provided genotyping and serotyping results with good concordance rates. The two NAATs (RealTime II and RFMP) showed comparable performance and good agreement. However, the results of the HISCL Gr assay showed statistically significant differences with those of the NAATs.
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Mi-Soon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Yongjung
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Hyon-Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Abbott RealTime; HCV genotype; Sysmex HISCL Gr; nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT); restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP); serology