Presence of the 70Q quasispecies at baseline was associated with an increased risk of treatment failure, as indicated by the positive selection of the 70Q clones induced by treatment with pegylated interferon with ribavirin. These results urge further investigation of the mechanisms of this association.

Two commercial real-time PCR assays are currently available for sensitive hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA quantification: the Abbott RealTime HCV assay (ART) and Roche Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HCV assay (CAP/CTM). We assessed whether the two real-time PCR assays were more effective than Roche Cobas Amplicor HCV Monitor test, v.2.0 (CAM) for prediction of the sustained virological response (SVR) to pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) in chronic hepatitis C. Sixty patients chronically infected with HCV genotype 1b (37 males and 23 females, 53 ؎ 12 years of age) were treated with PEG-IFN␣2b plus RBV for 48 weeks. Stored specimens at nine time points for each patient (at baseline, on treatment, and 24 weeks after treatment) were tested by the two real-time PCR assays and CAM. Twenty-six (43.3%) patients reached SVR. The positive predictive values (PPVs) for SVR of undetectable HCV RNA at week 12 by CAM, ART, and CAP/CTM were 74.3%, 88.0%, and 95.2%, respectively. An undetectable HCV RNA level by CAM, ART, and CAP/CTM correctly predicted SVR at week 4 in 100%, 100%, and 100% of patients, at weeks 5 to 8 in 91.7%, 100%, and 100% of patients, at weeks 9 to 12 in 55.6%, 75%, and 87.5% of patients, and at weeks 13 to 24 in 0%, 26.7%, and 40% of patients, respectively. Of 16 patients who relapsed after treatment, HCV RNA was detectable in 2 patients at the end of treatment by CAP/CTM but undetectable by ART and CAM. HCV RNA tests using ART and CAP/CTM are considered to be more effective at predicting SVR than CAM, and the PPV for SVR was slightly higher in CAP/CTM than in ART.The quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is essential for the management of chronic hepatitis C therapy based on the combination of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). Based on pivotal trials in large multicenter studies, positive and negative predictions of sustained virological response (SVR) using viral load kinetics have been established and are now used for recommendations on antiviral therapy management by the American and European international consensus conferences (6, 9, 17). Initially, the effectiveness of antiviral therapy had been controlled by HCV RNA tests using end-point PCR assays sensitive to a level of 50 to 100 IU/ml, according to the Roche Cobas Amplicor HCV Monitor test, v.2.0 (CAM; Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Pleasanton, CA). Recently, two novel commercial real-time PCR assays became available for highly sensitive HCV RNA quantification: the Abbott RealTime HCV assay (ART; Abbott Molecular, Inc., Des Plaines, IL) and the Roche Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HCV assay (CAP/CTM; Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Pleasanton, CA). The reported sensitivity of these real-time PCR assays is higher than that of CAM, they are reportedly not prone to carryover contamination, and they have a consistently wider dynamic range of quantification, which makes them particularly useful for quantifying the full range of viral genome levels observed in treated and untreated patients. Real-time PCR is rapidly r...

Explants from stipes and meristems of Ecklonia cava were incubated on six media under several culture conditions . Both stipe and meristem explants developed calluses three to six weeks after inoculation onto all media except AS PC-1 . Calluses developed on stipe explants but did not develop on meristem explants at a temperature of 23 'C . Temperatures from 8 to 13 ° C were favorable for callus development . Callus development on meristem explants required light but callus development on stipe explants did not .

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