Isotachophoresis preconcentration integrated microfluidic chip for highly sensitive genotyping of the hepatitis B virus

The genotyping of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has become recently a valuable tool not only for epidemiological reasons but also for the clinical practice. Conventional methods for HBV genotyping typically include amplification of the target DNA sequences with a two-round nested PCR followed by separation of the amplified fragments by gel electrophoresis. A microfluidic chip that couples isotachophoresis (ITP) preconcentration and zone electrophoresis (ZE) separation may provide great advantages for sensitive, rapid and cost-effective clinical analysis. In this study, an HBV genotyping method with only one amplification round was developed by the application of the ITP-ZE chip. All the analysis steps of the ITP-ZE separation including sample injection, stacking and separation were performed continuously, controlled by sequential high-voltage switching. A 2.1 cm sample plug was preconcentrated between discontinuous buffers in ITP process, followed by ZE separation. Sensitivity enhancement was obtained through the increase of sample loading volume. The average LOD value of the ITP-ZE microfluidic chip was determined to be 0.0021 pg/μL. In a large-scale HBV genotyping test, single round PCR products were analyzed by ITP-ZE microfluidic chip, and the results were compared with that of the conventional method. Among the 200 cases studied, the classification rate obtained with microfluidic chip was 93%, which was 6% higher than that obtained with the conventional method. Method with ITP-ZE chip analysis provides HBV genotyping information in reduced PCR amplification time with higher detection rate when compared with conventional method. This method holds great potential for extrapolation to the abundance of similar molecular biology-based techniques in clinical diagnosis.