Comparison of sequence analysis and INNO-LiPA HBV DR line probe assay in patients with chronic hepatitis B

The aim of this study was to compare direct sequence analysis of partial HBV pol gene and Inno-LiPA HBV DR in serum samples of 120 chronic hepatitis B patients sent to the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of Ege University Hospital because of lamivudine resistance. Sequence analysis was performed on ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer. Comparison of Inno-LiPA and sequence results obtained by double-blind evaluation showed full agreement (both at rt180 and rt204) in 58.8% of samples. Visually re-checking of the electropherograms increased this rate to 68.3%. Codon based rates are 81.7% and 75.8% at rt180 and rt204 respectively. LiPA detected variants in additional 12 (10%) samples, but missed one variant sample (both rt180 and rt204) and one sample was indeterminate due to poor probe binding. LiPA allows determination of mixed variants and seems to be more sensitive and simple for routine testing even though sequence analysis is still the gold standard for detecting new variants.