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Automated screening using microfluidic chip‐based PCR and product detection to assess risk of BK virus‐associated nephropathy in renal transplant recipients
Author(s) -
Kaigala Govind V.,
Huskins Ryan J.,
Preiksaitis Jutta,
Pang XiaoLi,
Pilarski Linda M.,
Backhouse Christopher J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.200600061
Subject(s) - bk virus , microfluidic chip , renal transplant , virology , nephropathy , medicine , microfluidics , kidney transplantation , transplantation , nanotechnology , materials science , diabetes mellitus , endocrinology
The cost‐effective detection of viral particles in bodily fluids could enable more effective responses to viral outbreaks, whether isolated clinical cases, or influenza epidemics. In renal transplant recipients, complications arising from high levels of BK virus can lead to graft dysfunction, graft loss, and/or reduced patient survival. We describe a microfluidic system for the sensitive analysis of BK virus (viral load) in unprocessed urine samples that are applied directly onto the chip, thus avoiding labor‐intensive processing and sources of inter‐assay variability. Integration of small volume genetic amplification (PCR) and electrophoretic analysis detects as few as 1–2 viral copies, distinguishes between high, medium and low levels of virus and reliably identifies viral loads requiring clinical intervention. As a first step to wider application in the clinic and in the field, the present work presents an entirely microchip‐based system, validated against conventional clinical methods using clinical samples.