TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of commercial realtime reverse transcription PCR assays for the detection of SARS-CoV-2
AU - Iglói, Zsófia
AU - Leven, Margareta
AU - Abdel-Karem Abou-Nouar, Zain
AU - Weller, Babette
AU - Matheeussen, Veerle
AU - Coppens, Jasmine
AU - Koopmans, Marion
AU - Molenkamp, Richard
N1 - FTX; (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0); Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The emergence of a new coronavirus in Wuhan China has triggered a global need for accurate diagnostic assays. Initially, mostly laboratory developed molecular tests were available but shortly thereafter different commercial assays started to appear and are still increasing in number. Although independent performance evaluations are ongoing, available data is still scarce. Here we provide a direct comparison of key performance characteristics of 13 commercial RT-PCR assays. Thirteen RT-PCR assays were selected based on the criteria that they can be used following generic RNA extraction protocols, on common PCR platforms and availability. Using a 10-fold and 2-fold dilution series of a quantified SARS-CoV-2 cell-cultured virus stock, performance was assessed compared to our in house validated assay. Specificity was tested by using RNA extracted from cultured common human coronaviruses. All RT-PCR kits included in this study exhibited PCR efficiencies > 90%, except for the Sentinel Diagnostics B E-gene RUO assay (80%). Analytical sensitivity varied between 3.3 RNA copies to 330 RNA copies. Only one assay cross reacted with another human coronavirus (MERS). This study provides a technical baseline of 13 different commercial PCR assays for SARS-CoV-2 detection that can be used by laboratories interested in purchasing any of these for further full clinical validation.
AB - The emergence of a new coronavirus in Wuhan China has triggered a global need for accurate diagnostic assays. Initially, mostly laboratory developed molecular tests were available but shortly thereafter different commercial assays started to appear and are still increasing in number. Although independent performance evaluations are ongoing, available data is still scarce. Here we provide a direct comparison of key performance characteristics of 13 commercial RT-PCR assays. Thirteen RT-PCR assays were selected based on the criteria that they can be used following generic RNA extraction protocols, on common PCR platforms and availability. Using a 10-fold and 2-fold dilution series of a quantified SARS-CoV-2 cell-cultured virus stock, performance was assessed compared to our in house validated assay. Specificity was tested by using RNA extracted from cultured common human coronaviruses. All RT-PCR kits included in this study exhibited PCR efficiencies > 90%, except for the Sentinel Diagnostics B E-gene RUO assay (80%). Analytical sensitivity varied between 3.3 RNA copies to 330 RNA copies. Only one assay cross reacted with another human coronavirus (MERS). This study provides a technical baseline of 13 different commercial PCR assays for SARS-CoV-2 detection that can be used by laboratories interested in purchasing any of these for further full clinical validation.
KW - Betacoronavirus/genetics
KW - COVID-19
KW - COVID-19 Testing
KW - Clinical Laboratory Techniques/methods
KW - Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis
KW - Cross Reactions
KW - Humans
KW - Molecular Diagnostic Techniques/methods
KW - Pandemics
KW - Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis
KW - RNA, Viral/analysis
KW - Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Sensitivity and Specificity
U2 - 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104510
DO - 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104510
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
C2 - 32570045
SN - 1386-6532
VL - 129
JO - Journal of Clinical Virology
JF - Journal of Clinical Virology
M1 - 104510
ER -