ArticlePloS one2020
Dried blood spot self-sampling at home is a feasible technique for hepatitis C RNA detection.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Framework for Emergency Department-Integrated Hepatitis C Test-and-Treat in the United States.Journal of viral hepatitis · 2026Review
- HCV RNA quantification using the Cobas Plasma Separation Card as an alternative to EDTA plasma: a prospective multicenter study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Sensitivity and specificity of Dried Blood Spot and Plasma Separation Card samples for Hepatitis C Virus RNA Testing.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Sensitivity and specificity of dried blood spot samples for hepatitis C virus RNA testing.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Dried Blood Spots and Plasma Separation Cards can Broaden Access to Molecular Testing for HBV, HCV and HIV.Reviews in medical virology · 2025Review
- Post-Diagnosis HCV RNA Testing Rates Prior to HCV Treatment Among People Living With HIV With HCV Antibody Positivity in the Asia-Pacific Region.Journal of viral hepatitis · 2024Article
- Validity of dried blood spot testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections: A narrative systematic review.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Impact of storage time in dried blood samples (DBS) and dried plasma samples (DPS) for point-of-care hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA quantification and HCV core antigen detection.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Dried Blood Spots-A Platform for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) and Drug/Disease Response Monitoring (DRM).European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics · 2023Review
- A Toolkit for Monitoring Immunoglobulin G Levels from Dried Blood Spots of Patients with Primary Immunodeficiencies.Journal of clinical immunology · 2023Article
- Feasibility of remote self-collection of dried blood spots, hair, and nails among people with HIV with hazardous alcohol use.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2023Article
- Optimization of RNA Extraction from Dry Blood Spots for Nanostring Analysis.Current protocols · 2023Article
- Article
- Comparative performance data for multiplex SARS-CoV-2 serological assays from a large panel of dried blood spot specimens.Heliyon · 2022Article
- Internet-guided HCV-RNA testing: A promising tool to achieve hepatitis C micro-elimination among men who have sex with men.Journal of viral hepatitis · 2022Article
- Feasibility of community at-home dried blood spot collection combined with pooled reverse transcription PCR as a viable and convenient method for malaria epidemiology studies.Malaria journal · 2022Article
- Implementing community-based Dried Blood Spot (DBS) testing for HIV and hepatitis C: a qualitative analysis of key facilitators and ongoing challenges.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Rethinking detection of pre-existing and interveningFrontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Article
- Hepatitis C Diagnosis: Simplified Solutions, Predictive Barriers, and Future Promises.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To facilitate HCV diagnosis, we developed an HCV-RNA testing service, which involved home-sampled dried blood spots (DBS). The main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of self-sampling at home. Furthermore, to optimise the processing of DBS samples for RNA detection, we evaluated two elution buffers: phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and L6-buffer. 27 HCV-RNA and 12 HIV-1 RNA positive patients were included. Laboratory spotted DBS (LabDBS) were made by a technician from blood samples drawn at inclusion. Patients received a DBS home-sampling kit and were requested to return their self-sampled DBS (ssDBS) by mail. We compared the RNA load of PBS and L6-eluted labDBS, and of L6-eluted ssDBS, L6-eluted labDBS and plasma. LabDBS load measurements were repeated after 7-13 and 14-21 days to evaluate RNA stability. All 39 plasma samples provided quantifiable RNA loads. In 1/39 labDBS sample, RNA could not be detected (plasma HCV load: 2.98 log10 IU/ml). L6-eluted samples gave a 0.7 log10 and 0.6 log10 higher viral load for HCV and HIV-1 respectively, compared to PBS-eluted samples. Strong correlations were found between labDBS and ssDBS HCV RNA (r = 0.833; mean difference 0.3 log10 IU/mL) and HIV-1 RNA results (r = 0.857; mean difference 0.1 log10 copies/mL). Correlations between labDBS and plasma values were high for HCV (r = 0.958) and HIV-1 (r = 0.844). RNA loads in DBS remained stable over 21 days. Our study demonstrates that self-sampling dried blood spots at home is a feasible strategy for the detection of HCV and HIV-1 RNA. This could facilitate one-step diagnostics and treatment monitoring in communities with high HCV prevalence.
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