CRISPR/Cas13a combined with reverse transcription-multienzyme isothermal rapid amplification for hepatitis B virus RNA detection.

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents a major global public health challenge. The covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which serves as the key reservoir for viral persistence, currently requires invasive liver biopsy for clinical monitoring. Recent studies have identified serum HBV pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) and its splicing variants emerging as potential noninvasive and reliable biomarkers for tracking disease progression and forecasting prognosis in chronic HBV infection. Precise detection of pgRNA is therefore essential for informed clinical decision-making and optimized patient management.

RESULTS

In this study, we developed a rapid, accurate, and clinically applicable method for HBV RNA detection by integrating CRISPR/Cas13a with reverse transcription-multienzyme isothermal rapid amplification (RT-MIRA). This innovative platform enabled simultaneous amplification of two pgRNA targets within a single-tube RT-MIRA reaction, allowing dual-target detection via one-step amplification. The optimized system achieved efficient isothermal amplification with a detection sensitivity of 103 copies/mL for both total and spliced pgRNA and exhibited no cross-reactivity with other common clinical viruses. Validation using both RT-qPCR and the RT-MIRA-Cas13a assay on clinical samples from 48 HBV-infected patients demonstrated a positive prediction value of 97.2 % and a negative predictive value of 100 %. These results conclusively validate the assay's reliability for clinical application in detecting and quantifying both total pgRNA and its splicing variants.

SIGNIFICANCE: This study presents a rapid and user-friendly HBV RNA detection platform capable of accurately identifying both total and spliced pgRNA. The RT-MIRA-Cas13a assay demonstrates excellent clinical potential for prognosis assessment and disease monitoring in HBV infection. Its robust performance and operational simplicity suggest strong suitability for point-of-care applications, potentially transforming chronic HBV monitoring through accessible nucleic acid testing.