2023-04-17 07:53:00
Test to detect prostate cancer (Medical Link photo)
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, infects about 1.5 million people every year all over the world. About 650,000 people die each year from HIV-related causes. Hepatitis B and C meanwhile contribute to more than a million deaths a year. Now, a groundbreaking new test can detect HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C using no more than a single drop of blood.
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Together, these three viruses represent a major health concern on a global scale. The World Health Organization has seen the elimination of all three by 2030 as one of its key global health strategies. However, if this goal is to become a reality, modern science needs new and more effective detection tests. Currently, the most common way to detect hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV involves taking a blood sample from a vein through a needle.
Current alternatives include dried blood spot tests, in which scientists test a single spot of blood for nucleic acid from viruses. Researcher Steven Nilsson-Müller and colleagues from the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Copenhagen University Hospital validated, or evaluated, one such test.
To perform this type of test, you simply prick the patient’s finger, collect a few spots of blood on filter paper and allow it to dry. Scientists then use the Panther Hologic System (testing equipment found in public health laboratories) to perform a technique called transcription-mediated amplification, which analyzes one of the blood spots for genetic material from the three viruses.
This analysis typically uses liquid samples of plasma or serum—not the dried samples used by the study authors. In total, the team analyzed 20 samples with known amounts of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C using dried blood spots (60 in total). The test detected viruses in all samples.
The study authors also diluted plasma to determine the lower limit of detection. This showed that the viruses could indeed be detected at much lower levels than are usually detected in untreated patients.
“We have shown that using existing equipment in the hospital, it is possible to detect HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C from a single drop of blood,” says Nilsson-Müller in a press release. “Dried blood spot testing is ideal for places where you don’t want to use a needle for safety reasons or where it’s less practical. This includes prisons, drug rehab centers and homeless shelters.”
“It is also suitable for developing countries or places where you risk that a blood sample will be destroyed before it is transferred to a laboratory that can analyze it,” concludes the researcher. “Blood samples should be analyzed within six hours when kept at room temperature, while dried blood spots can last nine months without refrigeration.”
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