Quantification of hepatitis C virus by competitive reverse transcription—polymerase chain reaction: Increase of the virus in advanced liver disease
Naoya Kato, Osamu Yokosuka, Kazuhiko Hosoda, Yoshimi Ito, Masao Ohto, Masao Omata – 1 July 1993 – We developed a quantitative method of hepatitis C virus RNA by competitive reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. With this method, 36 patients with type C chronic liver disease were analyzed for the copy number of circulating hepatitis C virus in 50 μl of serum. The amounts of hepatitis C virus RNA ranged from 101 to 107 copies in the 36 patients.