Development and Validation of Multiplex One-Step Real-Time TaqManqRT-PCR Assays for Detection and Quantification of Arboviral Encephalitis Viruses

Abstract

Arboviral encephalitis is a group of animal and human illness that is mostly caused by several distinct families of viruses including orthobunya virus, phlebovirus, flaviviruses, and the alphaviruses. Although specific signs and symptoms vary by the type of central nervous system (CNS), initial signs and symptoms are very similar. Therefore rapid immunologic and molecular tools for differential diagnosis of arboviral encephalitis viruses are important for effective case management and control of the spread of encephalitis. The qRT-PCR assay, especially multiplex PCR, has the potential to produce considerable savings in time and resources in the laboratory detection. Meanwhile, the use of IC can prevent false negatives effectively by monitoring the processes of nucleic acid extraction and amplification. This report describes the development of a panel of internally controlled multiplex one-step real-time RT-PCR assays in which two virus specific-probe sets were used in the same reaction for the detection of 15 species arboviral encephalitis viruses: the comparative sensitivity of multiplex one-step qRT-PCR assays to single plex one-step qRT-PCR assays as well as one-step RT-PCR assays for detection of each viral species. And total of 150 human serum samples were detected to evaluate the multiplex one-step qRT-PCR assays. These multiplex one-step real-time RT-PCR assays with IC were evaluated in terms of sensitivity, linearity, precision, specificity, and also field samples including serum and vector. These assays can detect and differentiate arboviral encephalitis viruses by high throughput, sensitive, and specific way. It is useful for clinical management and outbreak control of arboviral encephalitis viruses and vector surveillance.