Table 3.
Performance characteristics of commercial methods for hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus detection and quantification
| Assay (manufacture) | Method | Measurable range (IU/mL) | Limit of detection IU/mL (using WHO HBV standard) | Conversion factor (IU/mL to copies/mL) |
| HBV | ||||
| Cobas ampliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HBV test v2.0 (Roche Diagnostics, California, United States) | Semi-automated qPCR | 20-1.7 × 107 | 20 | 5.82 |
| Cobas TaqMan HBV test (for use with high pure system) | Semi-automated real time PCR | 29-1.1 × 107 | 6 | 5.82 |
| Abbott real time HBV (Abbott Diagnostic, Chicago, United States) | Automated real time PCR | 10-1 × 109 | 10 | 3.41 |
| Versant HBV 3.0 assay (Siemens Healthcare, United States) | Branched DNA | 2000-1 × 108 | 2000 | 5.6 |
| HCV qualitative | ||||
| Cobas Amplicor HCV v2.0 (Roche) | Semiautomated RT-PCR | 50 | 50 | - |
| Versant HCV RNA qualitative assay (TMA) | Transcription-mediated amplification | < 9.6 | 5-9.6 | - |
| Quantitative | ||||
| Versant HCV RNA 3.0 (Siemens) | Branched DNA | 7.7 × 106 | 615 | 5.2 |
| Cobas Amplicor Monitor HCV v2.0 (Roche) | Semiautomated RT-PCR | 5 × 105 | 600 | 2.7 |
| Real time HCV (Abbott) | Real time PCR | 1 × 107 | 10 | 3.8 |
| Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan (Roche) | Automated real time PCR | 6.9 × 107 | 43 | 3 |
| High Pure/Cobas TaqMan (Roche) | Semiautomated real time PCR | 3.9 × 108 | 25 | 3 |
WHO: World Health Organization; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; RT-PCR: Reverse transcriptase-PCR; qPCR: Quantitative PCR.