Simple and rapid identification of low level hepatitis B virus DNA by the nested polymerase chain reaction

A rapid and sensitive method has been developed to detect hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV) by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique with primers specific for the surface and core regions in capillary thermal cycler within 80 min. The lower limit for detection by present PCR method is 10−5 pg of recombinant HBV DNA which is equivalent to that determined by one round of PCR amplification and Southern blot hybridization analysis. When boiled HBV positive serum was serially diluted 10-fold, HBV DNA was successfully determined in 1 μl≈10−3 μl of serum. HBV DNA was detected by present method in 69 clinical samples including HBsAg positives and negatives by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). When serum samples were amplified by nested PCR using surface and core region primers, HBV DNAs were detected in 37 of 69 samples (53.6%) and 18 of 69 samples (26.1%), respectively. These results can inform the infectious state of HBsAg positive pateints. A simple and rapid nested PCR protocol by using boiled serum as DNA template has been described for the clinical utility to determine HBV DNA in human serum.