Comparison and evaluation of 3 diagnostic kits for quantification (PCR-Fluorescence Probing) of hepatitis B virus DNA.

Objective The goal of this clinic study is to evaluate the application performance for 2 new HBV DNA Quantitative Fluorescence Diagnostic Kits, which are recently emerged in the market.Methods Serial diluted HBV serum samples and 1001 clinical serum samples with random virus load were tested quantitatively with the 3 diagnostic kits A, B and C. By studying their linear range, specificity,precision and sensitivity, the two new reagents (A and B ) were used to test these samples and also to compare them with the quantitative results from the boiling method kit (C) which is of better quality and reliability than similar diagnostic kits in current market. Furthermore, the immunoassy results of these samples were evalued and compared with their quantitative results. Results The quantitative results of 767 samples showed that their average values of the 3 kits have no significant difference. However, in the low viral load group, the results of kit A showed the best sensitivity(1.00E + 01 IU/ml)and had much better sensitivity than kit B (1.00E + 02 IU/ml), while kit C kit ( 5.00E + 02 IU/ml ) failed to test positive for most of the low concentration samples. Conclusion The nucleic acid extraction-free method ( kit B) showed much better accuracy and much larger linear range than the conventional method. In this method, the nucleic acid templates extracted by lysis buffer all went into the PCR reaction, resulting in high extraction efficiency and minimum nucleic acid loss. With a simple procedure, great accuracy and good sensitivity, this new test kit is suitable for routine clinical lab usage. Key words: Hepatitis B;  DNA;  Polymerase chain reaction;  Sensitivity and specificity