ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Clinical evaluation of the COBAS Amplicor HBV monitor test for measuring serum HBV DNA and comparison with the Quantiplex branched DNA signal amplification assay in Taiwan

C-Y Dai, M-L Yu, S-C Chen, Z-Y Lin, M-Y Hsieh, L-Y Wang, J-F Tsai, W-L Chuang, W-Y Chang

Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr W-L Chuang
Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical, University Hospital, No 100, Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; d820195{at}kmu.edu.tw, u8981103{at}kmu.edu.tw

Aims: To evaluate the performance characteristics and clinical usefulness of the COBAS Amplicor HBV monitor (COBAS-AM) test in Taiwan and to examine its correlation with the Quantiplex branched DNA signal amplification (bDNA) assay for measuring serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA concentrations.

Methods: HBV DNA was measured by the COBAS-AM test in 149 sera from chronic HBV infected patients that had previously been analysed by the bDNA assay.

Results: The COBAS-AM test showed good reproducibility, with acceptable intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation (1.6% and 0.9%, respectively) and good linearity (r² = 0.98). The overall sensitivity of the COBAS-AM test was significantly higher than that of the bDNA assay (95.3% v 83.2%): 69.6% of samples with HBV DNA below the detection limit of the bDNA assay could be measured by the COBAS-AM test. There was a significant correlation between the results of the two assays (r = 0.901; p < 0.0001). On average, the results derived from the COBAS-AM test were 0.55 log lower than those of the bDNA assay. HBV DNA concentrations were significantly higher among HBV e antigen (HBeAg) positive patients than negative ones, and higher among patients with abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentrations than those with normal ALT concentrations (p = 0.0003).

Conclusions: The COBAS-AM assay, more sensitive in HBeAg negative samples than the bDNA assay, can effectively measure HBV DNA concentrations in Taiwanese patients. HBV DNA values measured by the COBAS-AM test and bDNA assay correlate significantly.

Keywords: COBAS AM test; branched DNA assay; hepatitis B virus; hepatitis B virus DNA; hepatitis B virus e antigen

Abbreviations: ALT, alanine aminotransferase; bDNA, branched DNA signal amplification; COBAS-AM, COBAS Amplicor HBV monitor; eq, equivalent; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HBeAg, hepatitis B virus e antigen; HBsAg, hepatitis B virus surface antigen; LLOD, lower limit of detection; PCR, polymerase chain reaction

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