The stability of pathogen-specific DNA or RNA amplification targets in clinical samples following short-term storage at room temperature, 4°C, and -80°C was assessed by real-time PCR. In purified nucleic acid extracts, both DNA and RNA targets were stable for up to 30 days, irrespective of storage temperature. In unextracted samples, temperature-dependent loss of targets (P < 0.05) was observed in serum and cerebrospinal fluid specimens, while no changes were observed for EDTA blood samples.
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Hasan et al. (2012) studied this question.
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