scholarly journals A semi-automated, isolation-free, high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase (RT) loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) test

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Schmidt ◽  
Sandro Berghaus ◽  
Frithjof Blessing ◽  
Folker Wenzel ◽  
Holger Herbeck ◽  
...  

AbstractShortages of reverse transcriptase (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents and related equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the need for alternative, high-throughput methods for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-mass screening in clinical diagnostic laboratories. A robust, SARS-CoV-2 RT-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay with high-throughput and short turnaround times in a clinical laboratory setting was established and compared to two conventional RT-PCR protocols using 323 samples of individuals with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. Limit of detection (LoD) and reproducibility of the isolation-free SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP test were determined. An almost perfect agreement (Cohen’s kappa > 0.8) between the novel test and two classical RT-PCR protocols with no systematic difference (McNemar’s test, P > 0.05) was observed. Sensitivity and specificity were in the range of 89.5 to 100% and 96.2 to 100% dependent on the reaction condition and the RT-PCR method used as reference. The isolation-free RT-LAMP assay showed high reproducibility (Tt intra-run coefficient of variation [CV] = 0.4%, Tt inter-run CV = 2.1%) with a LoD of 95 SARS-CoV-2 genome copies per reaction. The established SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP assay is a flexible and efficient alternative to conventional RT-PCR protocols, suitable for SARS-CoV-2 mass screening using existing laboratory infrastructure in clinical diagnostic laboratories.

2011 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHAYAPA TECHATHUVANAN ◽  
FRANCES ANN DRAUGHON ◽  
DORIS HELEN D'SOUZA

Novel rapid Salmonella detection assays without the need for sophisticated equipment or labor remain in high demand. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) assays, though rapid and sensitive, require expensive thermocyclers, while a novel RT loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) method requires only a simple water bath. Our objective was to compare the detection sensitivity of Salmonella Typhimurium from the pork processing environment by RT-LAMP, RT-PCR, and culture-based assays. Carcass and surface swabs and carcass rinses were obtained from a local processing plant. Autoclaved carcass rinses (500 ml) were spiked with Salmonella Typhimurium and filtered. Filters were placed in stomacher bags containing tetrathionate broth (TTB) and analyzed with or without 10-h enrichment at 37°C. Natural swabs were stomached with buffered peptone water, and natural carcass rinses were filtered, preenriched, and further enriched in TTB. Serially-diluted enriched samples were enumerated by spread plating on xylose lysine Tergitol 4 agar. RNA was extracted from 5 ml of enriched TTB with TRIzol. RT-LAMP assay using previously described invA primers was conducted at 62°C for 90 min in a water bath with visual detection and by gel electrophoresis. SYBR Green I–based-real-time RT-PCR was carried out with invA primers followed by melt temperature analysis. The results of RT-LAMP detection for spiked carcass rinses were comparable to those of RT-PCR and cultural plating, with detection limits of 1 log CFU/ml, although they were obtained significantly faster, within 24 h including preenrichment and enrichment. RT-LAMP showed 4 of 12 rinse samples positive, while RT-PCR showed 1 of 12 rinse samples positive. For swabs, 6 of 27 samples positive by RT-LAMP and 5 of 27 by RT-PCR were obtained. This 1-day RT-LAMP assay shows promise for routine Salmonella screening by the pork industry.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Dominique Subali ◽  
Lowilius Wiyono

ABSTRACTBackgroundCoronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a severe outbreak and become a global public health priority. Rapid increment of infection number along with significant deaths have placed the virus as a serious threat to human health. Rapid, reliable, and simple diagnostic methods are critically essential for disease control. While Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is the current diagnostic gold standard, Reverse Transcriptase Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) appears as a compelling alternative diagnostic test due to its more simplicity, shorter time to result, and lower cost. This study examined RT-LAMP application for rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to RT-PCR assay.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis (2020) was conducted in 6 scientific databases following the PRISMA Guideline. Original published studies on human clinical samples in English were included. Articles evaluated sensitivity and specificity of RT-LAMP relative to RT-PCR were considered eligible. Quality assessment of bias and applicability was examined based on QUADAS-2.ResultsA total of 351 studies were found based on the keywords and search queries. 14 eligible case control studies fitted the respective criteria. Quality assessment using QUADAS-2 indicated low risk bias in all included studies. All case studies, comprises 2,112 samples, had the cumulative sensitivity of 95.5% (CI 97.5%=90.8-97.9%) and cumulative specificity of 99.5% (CI 97.5%=97.7-99.9%).ConclusionRT-LAMP assay could be suggested as a reliable alternative COVID-19 diagnostic method with reduced cost and time compared to RT-PCR. RT-LAMP could potentially be utilized during the high-throughput and high-demand critical situations.


Author(s):  
Leon Peto ◽  
Gillian Rodger ◽  
Daniel P Carter ◽  
Karen L Osman ◽  
Mehmet Yavuz ◽  
...  

Background LamPORE is a novel diagnostic platform for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA combining loop-mediated isothermal amplification with nanopore sequencing, which could potentially be used to analyse thousands of samples per day on a single instrument. Methods We evaluated the performance of LamPORE against RT-PCR using RNA extracted from spiked respiratory samples and stored nose and throat swabs collected at two UK hospitals. Findings The limit of detection of LamPORE was ten genome copies/μl of extracted RNA, which is above the limit achievable by RT-PCR but was not associated with a significant reduction of sensitivity in clinical samples. Positive clinical specimens came mostly from patients with acute symptomatic infection, and among these LamPORE had a diagnostic sensitivity of 99.1% (226/228 [95% CI 96.9–99.9%]). Among negative clinical specimens, including 153 with other respiratory pathogens detected, LamPORE had a diagnostic specificity of 99.6% (278/279 [98.0–100.0%]). Overall, 1.4% (7/514 [0.5–2.9%]) of samples produced an indeterminate result on first testing, and repeat LamPORE testing on the same RNA extract had a reproducibility of 96.8% (478/494 [94.8–98.1%]). Interpretation LamPORE has a similar performance to RT-PCR for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in symptomatic patients, and offers a promising approach to high-throughput testing.


Author(s):  
Leon Peto ◽  
Gillian Rodger ◽  
Daniel P Carter ◽  
Karen L Osman ◽  
Mehmet Yavuz ◽  
...  

LamPORE is a novel diagnostic platform for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA that combines loop-mediated isothermal amplification with nanopore sequencing, which could potentially be used to analyse thousands of samples per day on a single instrument. We evaluated the performance of LamPORE against RT-PCR using RNA extracted from spiked respiratory samples and from stored nose and throat swabs collected at two UK hospitals. The limit of detection of LamPORE was 7-10 genome copies/microlitre of extracted RNA. This is above the limit achievable by RT-PCR but was not associated with a significant reduction of sensitivity in clinical samples. Positive clinical specimens came mostly from patients with acute symptomatic infection, and among these LamPORE had a diagnostic sensitivity of 99.1% (226/228 [95% CI 96.9-99.9%]). Among negative clinical specimens, including 153 with other respiratory pathogens detected, LamPORE had a diagnostic specificity of 99.6% (278/279 [98.0-100.0%]). Overall, 1.4% (7/514 [0.5-2.9]) of samples produced an indeterminate result on first testing, and repeat LamPORE testing on the same RNA extract had a reproducibility of 96.8% (478/494 [94.8-98.1]). This indicates that LamPORE has a similar performance to RT-PCR for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in symptomatic patients, and offers a promising approach to high-throughput testing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuzhi Zhang ◽  
Qianqian Yang ◽  
Qingli Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyu Jiang ◽  
Xiaochun Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract The cytochrome cd1-containing nitrite reductase, nirS, plays an important role in biological denitrification. Consequently, investigating the presence and abundance of nirS is a commonly used approach to understand the distribution and potential activity of denitrifying bacteria, in addition to denitrifier communities. Herein, a rapid method for detecting nirS gene with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was developed, using Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 (P. aeruginosa PAO1) as model microorganism to optimize the assay. The LAMP assay relied on a set of four primers that were designed to recognize six target sequence sites, resulting in high target specificity. The limit of detection for the LAMP assay under optimized conditions was 1.87 pg/reaction of genomic DNA, which was an order of magnitude lower than that required by conventional PCR assays. Moreover, it was validated that P. aeruginosa PAO1 cells as well as genomic DNA could be directly used as template. Only 1 h was needed from the addition of bacterial cells to the reaction to the verification of amplification success. The nirS gene of P. aeruginosa PAO1 in spiked seawater samples could be detected with both DNA-template based LAMP assay and cell-template based LAMP assay, demonstrating the practicality of in-field use.


Author(s):  
Matthew A Lalli ◽  
Joshua S Langmade ◽  
Xuhua Chen ◽  
Catrina C Fronick ◽  
Christopher S Sawyer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Rapid, reliable, and widespread testing is required to curtail the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Current gold-standard nucleic acid tests are hampered by supply shortages in critical reagents including nasal swabs, RNA extraction kits, personal protective equipment, instrumentation, and labor. Methods To overcome these challenges, we developed a rapid colorimetric assay using reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) optimized on human saliva samples without an RNA purification step. We describe the optimization of saliva pretreatment protocols to enable analytically sensitive viral detection by RT-LAMP. We optimized the RT-LAMP reaction conditions and implemented high-throughput unbiased methods for assay interpretation. We tested whether saliva pretreatment could also enable viral detection by conventional reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Finally, we validated these assays on clinical samples. Results The optimized saliva pretreatment protocol enabled analytically sensitive extraction-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 from saliva by colorimetric RT-LAMP or RT-qPCR. In simulated samples, the optimized RT-LAMP assay had a limit of detection of 59 (95% confidence interval: 44–104) particle copies per reaction. We highlighted the flexibility of LAMP assay implementation using 3 readouts: naked-eye colorimetry, spectrophotometry, and real-time fluorescence. In a set of 30 clinical saliva samples, colorimetric RT-LAMP and RT-qPCR assays performed directly on pretreated saliva samples without RNA extraction had accuracies greater than 90%. Conclusions Rapid and extraction-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 from saliva by colorimetric RT-LAMP is a simple, sensitive, and cost-effective approach with broad potential to expand diagnostic testing for the virus causing COVID-19.


Plant Disease ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (12) ◽  
pp. 3142-3149
Author(s):  
Q. W. Wang ◽  
C. Q. Zhang

Trunk canker disease caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea with a prolonged latent infection phase poses a serious threat to Chinese hickory production. To further understand the epidemiological characteristics and develop reasonable management techniques, a quantitative loop-mediated isothermal amplification (q-LAMP) assay was developed to quantitatively monitor B. dothidea in hickory plants, water, and air samples. Specific primers were designed based on the different sites of the β-tubulin sequence between B. dothidea and other fungi commonly found on Chinese hickory. At the optimum reaction temperature of 65.9°C, this loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay can specifically distinguish B. dothidea from other tested fungi. The limit of detection of LAMP assays for B. dothidea was 0.001 ng/µl of pure genomic DNA and 10 spores per 1 ml of water. The q-LAMP assay enables rapid detection of B. dothidea within 60 min in hickory trunk, water in hickory forests, and spores captured on tapes. These results provide a powerful and convenient tool for monitoring B. dothidea, which could be applied widely in epidemiology, forecast, and management of tree canker disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 22727-22735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anurup Ganguli ◽  
Ariana Mostafa ◽  
Jacob Berger ◽  
Mehmet Y. Aydin ◽  
Fu Sun ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic provides an urgent example where a gap exists between availability of state-of-the-art diagnostics and current needs. As assay protocols and primer sequences become widely known, many laboratories perform diagnostic tests using methods such as RT-PCR or reverse transcription loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). Here, we report an RT-LAMP isothermal assay for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and demonstrate the assay on clinical samples using a simple and accessible point-of-care (POC) instrument. We characterized the assay by dipping swabs into synthetic nasal fluid spiked with the virus, moving the swab to viral transport medium (VTM), and sampling a volume of the VTM to perform the RT-LAMP assay without an RNA extraction kit. The assay has a limit of detection (LOD) of 50 RNA copies per μL in the VTM solution within 30 min. We further demonstrate our assay by detecting SARS-CoV-2 viruses from 20 clinical samples. Finally, we demonstrate a portable and real-time POC device to detect SARS-CoV-2 from VTM samples using an additively manufactured three-dimensional cartridge and a smartphone-based reader. The POC system was tested using 10 clinical samples, and was able to detect SARS-CoV-2 from these clinical samples by distinguishing positive samples from negative samples after 30 min. The POC tests are in complete agreement with RT-PCR controls. This work demonstrates an alternative pathway for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics that does not require conventional laboratory infrastructure, in settings where diagnosis is required at the point of sample collection.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Rovira ◽  
Juan Abrahante ◽  
Michael Murtaugh ◽  
Muñoz-Zanzi Claudia

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an important pathogen of swine. The objective of the current study is to investigate the feasibility of using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) for the detection of PRRSV. The RT-LAMP is a recently described DNA amplification technique reported to be simple, inexpensive, fast, and accurate. The RT-LAMP reaction was set up using 2 sets of primers that were designed to detect North American and European strains of PRRSV and performed successfully in a simple heat block. The specificity of the amplified product was demonstrated by restriction analysis. The RT-LAMP was able to detect 5 different PRRSV isolates. However, the limit of detection ranged between 10 2 and 10 4 50% tissue culture infective dose/ml. The RT-LAMP was further evaluated using serum samples from animals of known infection status. The ability of RT-LAMP to detect PRRSV in serum from acutely infected animals was evaluated with 114 serum samples from 18 experimentally inoculated boars. Forty-nine of these samples tested positive by RT-LAMP, while 94 were positive by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The diagnostic specificity, evaluated with 100 known negative serum samples, was estimated as 99%. The feasibility of RT-LAMP to detect PRRSV was demonstrated in the current study. The RT-LAMP reaction could be performed in just 1 hr with a simple and inexpensive heat block. However, the sensitivity of this technique was significantly lower than that of RT-PCR.


2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1037-1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryoichi Saito ◽  
Yoshiki Misawa ◽  
Kyoji Moriya ◽  
Kazuhiko Koike ◽  
Kimiko Ubukata ◽  
...  

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the rapid detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae was developed and evaluated. The assay specifically amplified only M. pneumoniae sequences, and no cross-reactivity was observed for other Mycoplasma species or respiratory bacterial species. The detection limit for this assay was found to be 2 × 102 copies, corresponding to 2–20 colour changing units of M. pneumoniae in 1 h, as observed in a real-time turbidimeter and electrophoretic analysis. The accuracy of the LAMP reaction was confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis as well as direct sequencing of the amplified product. The assay was applied to 95 nasopharyngeal swab samples collected from patients or from healthy individuals, and compared to a real-time PCR assay in-house. A concordance of 100 % was observed between the two assays. The LAMP assay is easy to perform, shows a rapid reaction and is inexpensive. It may therefore be applied in the routine diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection in the clinical laboratory.


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