Implementation Of Streptavidin-biotin System To HCV Antibody Lateral Flow Immunoassay Development

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus: the virus can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis infections,ranging in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious,lifelong illness.The disease is found worldwide with some countries having chronic infection rates as high as 5% and above.HCV is a blood-borne virus,transmission occurs through contact with the blood of an infected person.There is no vaccine for hepatitis C.The prevention of HCV infections relies on reducing the risk of exposure to the virus in healthcare settings,in higher risk populations.Therefor the screening and diagnosis of HCV is very important.HCV antibody lateral flow immunoassay is easy to operate,no depending on equipment,low cost and fast result.Usually the reading time is 15 minutes to get a reliable result.Compared to ELISA and chemiluminescence,the sensitivity and specificity is the weak point,but it is suitable to the screening method for HCV antibody.Lateral flow immunoassay is mainly used for rapid test,no incubation time,no wash,that is why sensitivity is lower.There are some ways to increase the sensitivity,including using enzyme conjugation,quantum dots,magnetic nanoparticle,UCP,PAMAM,dual conjugation pad and Streptavidin-biotin system etc.We implemented Streptavidin-biotin system to lateral flow to increase the reaction time within the chromatography process to strength the reaction a lot while still keep the advantage of rapid and easy operation and result in a high sensitive HCV antibody diagnostic reagent.In the evaluation of R&D prototype,the specificity is 100%,and it is even more sensitive than VIDAS.It is proved that streptavidin-biotin system is a good tool to increase the sensitivity of lateral flow immunoassay.