A single-step DNA extraction procedure for the detection of serum hepatitis B virus sequences by the polymerase chain reaction.

A rapid single-step procedure for the isolation of low molecular weight DNA using guanidinium thiocyanate and phenol as protein denaturants is described and applied for the detection of specific hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA sequences from serum samples by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The novel technique is efficient and, when compared to the standard proteinase K/phenol/chloroform method has the advantage of being faster and easily adaptable to the routine processing of a high number of clinical samples by PCR and spot hybridization techniques.