HIGHLY SENSITIVE H7N9 AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS DETECTION USING REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION LOOP-MEDIATED ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION AND OLIGONUCLEOTIDE MICROARRAY

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 251-255
Author(s):  
Lih-Chiann Wang ◽  
Dean Huang

H7N9 avian influenza viruses have circulated in the human population and poultry flocks in China since 2013. H7N9 virus monitoring is imperative in Taiwan due to the frequent contact between China and Taiwan. Traditional viral molecular detection methods using RT-PCR and sequencing are time- and labor-intensive, thus a simpler and cheaper method with high sensitivity and specificity is worth developing. We successfully detected human and wild bird H7N9 viruses in this study using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) and oligonucleotide microarray. The detection limit was as low as one viral copy number. The specific matching reaction between the templates and microarray probes during hybridization ensured the high detection effectiveness. The excellent sensitivity and specificity of the RT-LAMP-microarray makes it a powerful H7N9 surveillance approach in Taiwan.

Author(s):  
Meng Yee Lai ◽  
Soo Nee Tang ◽  
Yee Ling Lau

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been spreading rapidly all over the world. In the absence of effective treatments or a vaccine, there is an urgent need to develop a more rapid and simple detection technology of COVID-19. We describe a WarmStart colorimetric reverse transcription–loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The detection limit for this assay was 1 copy/µL SARS-CoV-2. To test the clinical sensitivity and specificity of the assay, 37 positive and 20 negative samples were used. The WarmStart colorimetric RT-LAMP had 100% sensitivity and specificity. End products were detected by direct observation, thereby eliminating the need for post-amplification processing steps. WarmStart colorimetric RT-LAMP provides an opportunity to facilitate virus detection in resource-limited settings without a sophisticated diagnostic infrastructure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-151
Author(s):  
M. Kunchev ◽  
V. Belcheva ◽  
E. Grigorov

Q fever, which is caused by Coxiella burnetii, a small, pleomorphic intracellular bacterium, is the most widespread zoonosis in the world. The chronic form of the disease can lead to disability and death. Rapid diagnosis of Q fever is needed in order that effective treatment can be initiated. The conventional retrospective diagnosis of Q fever, based on serology, is useless for the treatment of afflicted patients. Thus, molecular methods have been created to close the diagnostic gap between the onset of the disease and the presence of specific antibodies in serum. A polymerase chain reaction is a suitable and reliable method with high sensitivity and specificity, but it requires expensive equipment and post-amplification protocol. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is an isothermal technique, conducted at constant temperature that can amplify a negligible amount of DNA to more than 109 copies within one hour, using special primers and polymerase. We have tested the sensitivity and specificity of LAMP in the detection of C. burnetii. The mean positive rate of LAMP and polymerase chain reaction in patients was 100% and 74%, respectively. LAMP reacted negatively with non-C. burnetii pathogens and non-infected blood samples. We conclude that LAMP is a sensitive and specific technique for the detection of C. burnetii and has advantages over serological methods and PCR that make it attractive for diagnosing Q fever in countries around the world.


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