A Novel Multiplex Real-Time PCR Assay for the Concurrent Detection of Hepatitis A, B and C Viruses in Patients with Acute Hepatitis

A novel multiplex real-time PCR assay for concurrent detection of hepatitis viruses was evaluated for its clinical performance in screening patients with acute hepatitis. A total of 648 serum samples were collected from patients with acute symptoms of hepatitis. Concurrent detection of nucleic acids of HAV, HBV and HCV was performed using the Magicplex™ HepaTrio Real-time Detection test. Serum nucleic acid levels of HBV and HCV were also quantified by the Cobas® AmpliPrep/Cobas® TaqMan® (CAP/CTM) HBV and HCV tests. Patients’ medical records were also reviewed. Concordance rates between the results from the HepaTrio and the CAP/CTM tests for the detection of HBV and HCV were 94.9% (k = 0.88) and 99.2% (k = 0.98), respectively. The cycle threshold values with the HepaTrio test were also correlated well with the levels of HBV DNA (r = −0.9230) and HCV RNA (r = −0.8458). The sensitivity and specificity of the HepaTrio test were 93.8% and 98.2%, respectively, for detecting HBV infection, and 99.1% and 100.0%, respectively, for HCV infection. For the HepaTrio test, 21 (3.2%) cases were positive for both HBV and HCV. Among the positive cases, 6 (0.9%) were true coinfections. This test also detected 18 (2.8%) HAV positives. The HepaTrio test demonstrated good clinical performance and produced results that agreed well with those of the CAP/CTM assays, especially for the detection of HCV. This assay was also able to detect HAV RNA from anti-HAV IgM-positive individuals. Therefore, this new multiplex PCR assay could be useful for the concurrent detection of the three hepatitis viruses.