AUTHOR=Wang Haili , Zhang Yuhang , Zhou Jingming , Li Ming , Chen Yumei , Liu Yankai , Liu Hongliang , Ding Peiyang , Liang Chao , Zhu Xifang , Zhang Ying , Xin Cheng , Zhang Gaiping , Wang Aiping 

TITLE=Rapid Visual Detection of Hepatitis C Virus Using Reverse Transcription Recombinase-Aided Amplification–Lateral Flow Dipstick

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.816238

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.816238

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global public health threat. Reaching the World Health Organization (WHO) objective for eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030 will require precise disease diagnosis. While immunoassays and qPCR play a significant role in detecting HCV, rapid and accurate point-of-care testing (POCT) is important for pathogen identification. This study establishes a reverse transcription recombinase aided amplification-lateral flow dipstick (RT-RAA-LFD) assay to detect HCV. The intact workflow was completed within 30 min and the detection limit for synthesized C/E1 plasmid gene-containing plasmid was 10 copies/μL. In addition, the test showed good specificity, with no cross-reactivity observed for hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), HIV, syphilis, and human papillomavirus virus (HPV). Using extracted RNAs from 46 anti-HCV antibody-positive samples, RT-RAA-LFD showed 100% positive and negative concordance rates with qPCR. In summary, the RT-RAA-LFD assay established in this study is suitable for rapid clinical detection of HCV at the community level and in remote areas.