A novel real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay with partially double-stranded linear DNA probe for sensitive detection of hepatitis C viral RNA

The detection and quantification of HCV RNA is very helpful for the management and treatment of HCV related diseases. Detection of low HCV viral load is a great challenge in HCV RNA detection. Here, we developed a novel real-time RT-PCR assay with partially double-stranded linear DNA probe which can detect all HCV genotypes and improve the detection performance. The novel assay has a wide linear dynamic range of HCV RNA quantification (1 × 102-1 × 1011 IU/ml) and a limit of detection of 78 IU/ml. The assay exhibits an excellent reproducibility with 2.52% and 1.33% coefficients of variations, for inter- and intra-assays, respectively. To evaluate the viability of the assay, a comparison with a commercial HCV RNA detection kit was performed using 106 serum samples. The lineared correlation coefficient between the novel assay and the commercial HCV RNA detection kit was 0.940. Meanwhile, the deviation between the two methods was tolerable. Therefore, the novel real-time RT-PCR assay was applicable for laboratory diagnosis and monitoring of HCV infection.