Use of synthetic oligonucleotide probes to detect rhinovirus RNA

Current methods of detecting a human rhinovirus (HRV) infection are either based on isolation of virus in appropriate susceptible cell lines, which is time-consuming and requires considerable expertise, or are dependent on knowing the serotype. The extistence of over 100 immunologically distinct serotypes makes serotype specific assays, such as ELISA, unsuitable for general diagnostic assays. In this study a general rhinovirus assay is described which utilises synthetic oligonucleotides as probes in a filter hybridization assay. The probes are designed to bind to short but highly conserved regions of the rhinovirus genome. Indeed, the probes successfully detected all 57 rhinovirus serotypes tested. Furthermore, the test was used to demonstrate rhinovirus infection in clinical samples from 57 volunteers, inoculated with HRV, collected on six consecutive days. Clinical samples were taken prior to inoculation and on days 2–7 after inoculation. The filter hybridization assay gave results comparable to virus culture on days 2 and 3 post-inoculation, but was more sensitive on subsequent days.