Patent ID: 6348336
Filing Date: 2002-02-19
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A process for removing interfering contaminants, including any viral fragments and PCR inhibitors that may be present, from blood protein containing samples which are to be tested via PCR assay for virus, the process comprising the steps of:introducing an aqueous solution comprising a blood protein and any contaminants which may be present and which can interfere with the PCR assay into a centrifuge tube; centrifuging the aqueous blood protein solution under conditions sufficient to pellet any infectious virus that may be present to thereby separate the solution in the centrifuge tube into a supernatant containing interfering contaminants and a pellet comprising such infectious virus; removing substantially all of the supernatant from the centrifuge tube without disturbing the pellet; adding an aqueous wash buffer solution to the centrifuge tube containing the pellet and remaining supernatant, the wash buffer selected so as to be able to hold viral fragments in suspension while providing a solvent for PCR inhibitors, and the wash buffer being added gently so as not to disturb the pellet while washing from the pellet surface any viral fragments that may have settled thereon, thereby diluting the remaining supernatant so that interfering contaminants including viral fragments are in the diluted supernatant; centrifuging the centrifuge tube containing the pellet and the diluted supernatant under conditions sufficient to affix the pellet to the bottom of the centrifuge tube to thereby provide a final supernatant and a washed pellet; removing a major portion of the final supernatant and the contaminants contained therein from the centrifuge tube and recovering the residual supernatant and the washed pellet for PCR analysis.