RESUMO
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is commonly diagnosed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect viral RNA in patient samples, but RNA extraction constitutes a major bottleneck in current testing. Methodological simplification could increase diagnostic availability and efficiency, benefitting patient care and infection control. Here, we describe methods circumventing RNA extraction in COVID-19 testing by performing RT-PCR directly on heat-inactivated or lysed samples. Our data, including benchmarking using 597 clinical patient samples and a standardised diagnostic system, demonstrate that direct RT-PCR is viable option to extraction-based tests. Using controlled amounts of active SARS-CoV-2, we confirm effectiveness of heat inactivation by plaque assay and evaluate various generic buffers as transport medium for direct RT-PCR. Significant savings in time and cost are achieved through RNA-extraction-free protocols that are directly compatible with established PCR-based testing pipelines. This could aid expansion of COVID-19 testing.
Assuntos
Betacoronavirus/genética , Betacoronavirus/isolamento & purificação , Técnicas de Laboratório Clínico/métodos , Infecções por Coronavirus/diagnóstico , Infecções por Coronavirus/virologia , Pneumonia Viral/diagnóstico , Pneumonia Viral/virologia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa/métodos , Benchmarking , COVID-19 , Teste para COVID-19 , Técnicas de Laboratório Clínico/normas , Técnicas de Laboratório Clínico/estatística & dados numéricos , Infecções por Coronavirus/epidemiologia , Primers do DNA/genética , Temperatura Alta , Humanos , Pandemias , Pneumonia Viral/epidemiologia , RNA Viral/genética , RNA Viral/isolamento & purificação , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa/normas , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa/estatística & dados numéricos , SARS-CoV-2 , Sensibilidade e Especificidade , Suécia/epidemiologia , Ensaio de Placa Viral/métodosRESUMO
A total of 91 cervical archival biopsy series were analysed for the presence and viral load of 'high-risk' types of human papillomavirus (HR-HPV), and p16(INK4a) expression. The women had various degrees of CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia). HPV 16 was the most prevalent type found, at 47% frequency. The frequency of HPV 16 increased with increasing immunoreactivity to p16(INK4a), from 39% to 44% at cases scored low to medium, to 65% at high reactivity. Thirty (33%) of the samples had negative p16(INK4a) analysis results, but were positive for HR-HPV. There was no significant correlation between viral load and the level of p16(INK4a) expression, while the grade of CIN correlated to such expressions. Thus, p16(INK4a) expression analysis yielded information which is consistent with results from the histopathology and might complement the HPV analysis in a clinical prognostic procedure in order to find women at risk for cervical cancer.
