LAUSR

We evaluated the efficacy of four simple RNA extraction methods for the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in plasma samples: silica-membrane-based, magnetic beads-based, boiling with Diethyl Pyrocarbonate (DEPC)-treated distilled water or a commercial lysis buffer. HCV RNA was detected using both real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and reverse transcription loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). The magnetic beads-based extraction can be used as an alternative RNA extraction method for on-site HCV detection. Boiling with DEPC-treated distilled water was not appropriate for low HCV load samples and boiling with a lysis buffer was not recommended.