scholarly journals Comparison of a PCR-based diagnostic assay for Mycoplasma pulmonis with traditional detection techniques

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sanchez ◽  
K. Tyler ◽  
N. Rozengurt ◽  
J. Lida

Current diagnosis of infection by Mycoplasma pulmonis, an important pathogen of laboratory rodent colonies worlwide, is based on serological, histopathological and culture techniques which can be slow and unreliable. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for M. pulmonis diagnosis was compared to current diagnostic methods. This PCR based technique allows a more specific, sensitive and rapid diagnosis of M. pulmonis from various tissues by comparison with culture and histopathology.

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 180870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Mi Kwon ◽  
Maximilian R. Stammnitz ◽  
Jinhong Wang ◽  
Kate Swift ◽  
Graeme W. Knowles ◽  
...  

Tasmanian devils have spawned two transmissible cancer clones, known as devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) and devil facial tumour 2 (DFT2). DFT1 and DFT2 are transmitted between animals by the transfer of allogeneic contagious cancer cells by biting, and both cause facial tumours. DFT1 and DFT2 tumours are grossly indistinguishable, but can be differentiated using histopathology, cytogenetics or genotyping of polymorphic markers. However, standard diagnostic methods require specialist skills and equipment and entail long processing times. Here, we describe Tasman-PCR: a simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assay that identifies and distinguishes DFT1 and DFT2 by amplification of DNA spanning tumour-specific interchromosomal translocations. We demonstrate the high sensitivity and specificity of this assay by testing DNA from 546 tumours and 804 normal devils. A temporal–spatial screen confirmed the reported geographic ranges of DFT1 and DFT2 and did not provide evidence of additional DFT clones. DFT2 affects disproportionately more males than females, and devils can be co-infected with DFT1 and DFT2. Overall, we present a PCR-based assay that delivers rapid, accurate and high-throughput diagnosis of DFT1 and DFT2. This tool provides an additional resource for devil disease management and may assist with ongoing conservation efforts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natália Malaguti ◽  
Larissa Danielle Bahls ◽  
Nelson Shozo Uchimura ◽  
Fabrícia Gimenes ◽  
Marcia Edilaine Lopes Consolaro

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by a polymicrobial proliferation of anaerobic bacteria and depletion of lactobacilli, which are components of natural vaginal microbiota. Currently, there are limited conventional methods for BV diagnosis, and these methods are time-consuming, expensive, and rarely allow for the detection of more than one agent simultaneously. Therefore, we conceived and validated a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay for the simultaneous screening of thirteen bacterial vaginosis-associated agents (BV-AAs) related to symptomatic BV:Gardnerella vaginalis,Mobiluncus curtisii,Mobiluncus mulieris,Bacteroides fragilis,Mycoplasma hominis,Atopobium vaginae,Ureaplasma urealyticum,Megasphaeratype I, Clostridia-like bacteria vaginosis-associated bacteria (BVABs) 1, 2, and 3,Sneathia sanguinegens, andMycoplasma genitalium. The overall validation parameters of M-PCR compared to single PCR (sPCR) were extremely high, including agreement of 99.1% and sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values of 100.0%, negative predictive value of 97.0%, accuracy of 99.3%, and agreement with Nugent results of 100.0%. The prevalence of BV-AAs was very high (72.6%), and simultaneous agents were detected in 53.0%, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the M-PCR assay. Therefore, the M-PCR assay has great potential to impact BV diagnostic methods in vaginal samples and diminish associated complications in the near future.


2006 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 747-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Denize Dorneles Jouglard ◽  
Simone Simionatto ◽  
Fabiana Kommling Seixas ◽  
Fernanda Lima Nassi ◽  
Odir Antônio Dellagostin

Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis caused by pathogenic members of the genus Leptospira that has a great impact on human and veterinary public health. Early diagnosis of leptospirosis is important because severe lepto spiral infection can have a fulminant course. The available serological techniques for the diagnosis of leptospirosis have low sensitivity during the early stage of the disease. Efforts are being made to develop simpler, effective, efficient, and inexpensive diagnostic methods. In this work, we first evaluate a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based method for diagnosis of leptospirosis. Primers were designed to amplify a 264 bp region within the lipL32 gene that is conserved among pathogenic Leptospira and absent in nonpathogenic species. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay were evaluated using 7 saprophytic serovars, 37 pathogenic serovars, and 15 other microorganisms. The method was very specific for pathogenic serovars, however, it lacked sensitivity. To enhance the sensitivity, another primer pair was designed to amplify a 183 bp region within the 264 bp region of the lipL32 gene and was used in a nested PCR assay. This approach was much more sensitive than conventional PCR.Key words: leptospirosis, diagnosis, nested PCR, lipL32.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 371-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Gajardo ◽  
R. M. Pintó ◽  
A. Bosch

A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay is described that has been developed for the detection and serotyping of group A rotavirus in stool specimens and concentrated and non-concentrated sewage specimens.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Zhang ◽  
Chunyang Dai ◽  
Huiyan Wang ◽  
Yong Gao ◽  
Tuantuan Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, is posing a serious threat to global public health. Reverse transcriptase real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is widely used as the gold standard for clinical detection of SARS-CoV-2. Due to technical limitations, the reported positive rates of qRT-PCR assay of throat swab samples vary from 30 to 60%. Therefore, the evaluation of alternative strategies to overcome the limitations of qRT-PCR is required. A previous study reported that one-step nested (OSN)-qRT-PCR revealed better suitability for detecting SARS-CoV-2. However, information on the analytical performance of OSN-qRT-PCR is insufficient. Method In this study, we aimed to analyze OSN-qRT-PCR by comparing it with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and qRT-PCR by using a dilution series of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviral RNA and a quality assessment panel. The clinical performance of OSN-qRT-PCR was also validated and compared with ddPCR and qRT-PCR using specimens from COVID-19 patients. Result The limit of detection (copies/ml) of qRT-PCR, ddPCR, and OSN-qRT-PCR were 520.1 (95% CI: 363.23–1145.69) for ORF1ab and 528.1 (95% CI: 347.7–1248.7) for N, 401.8 (95% CI: 284.8–938.3) for ORF1ab and 336.8 (95% CI: 244.6–792.5) for N, and 194.74 (95% CI: 139.7–430.9) for ORF1ab and 189.1 (95% CI: 130.9–433.9) for N, respectively. Of the 34 clinical samples from COVID-19 patients, the positive rates of OSN-qRT-PCR, ddPCR, and qRT-PCR were 82.35% (28/34), 67.65% (23/34), and 58.82% (20/34), respectively. Conclusion In conclusion, the highly sensitive and specific OSN-qRT-PCR assay is superior to ddPCR and qRT-PCR assays, showing great potential as a technique for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in patients with low viral loads.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Seung-Min Yang ◽  
Jiwon Baek ◽  
Eiseul Kim ◽  
Hyeon-Be Kim ◽  
Seyoung Ko ◽  
...  

In recent years, Salmonella Infantis has become a predominant serovariant in clinical and poultry isolates, thereby imposing a substantial economic burden on both public health and the livestock industry. With the aim of coping with the steep increase in serovar Infantis prevalence, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based rapid and accurate diagnostic assay was developed in this study through pangenome profiling of 60 Salmonella serovars. A gene marker, SIN_02055, was identified, which is present in the S. Infantis genome but not in the pangenome of the other serovars. Primers specific to SIN_02055 were used to accurately detect serovar Infantis, and to successfully differentiate Infantis from the other 59 serovars in real-time PCR with a R2 of 0.999 and an efficiency of 95.76%. The developed method was applied to 54 Salmonella strains belonging to eight dominant serovars, and distinguished Infantis from the other seven serovars with an accuracy of 100%. The diagnostic primer set also did not show false positive amplification with 32 strains from eight non-Salmonella bacterial species. This cost-effective and rapid method can be considered an alternative to the classic serotyping using antisera.


1994 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshimichi Yamamoto ◽  
Keiji Tamaki ◽  
Toshinori Kojima ◽  
Rieko Uchihi ◽  
Yoshinao Katsumata ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-379
Author(s):  
Huitao Li ◽  
Xueyu Chen ◽  
Xiaomei Qiu ◽  
Weimin Huang ◽  
Chuanzhong Yang

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is the leading cause of death in neonatal patients, yet the diagnosis of IFI remains a major challenge. At present, most IFI laboratory diagnostic methods are based on classical, but limited, methods such as fungal isolation and culture and histopathological examination. Recently, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) technology have been adopted to quantify nucleic-acid identification. In this study, we established qPCR and ddPCR assays for IFI diagnosis and quantification. qPCR and ddPCR were carried out using identical primers and probe for the amplification of 18S rRNA. Assay results for three fungal strains were positive, whereas ten non-fungal strains had negative results, indicating 100% specificity for both ddPCR and qPCR methods. Genomic DNA of Candida albicans was tested after a serial dilution to compare the sensitivity of the two PCR methods. The limit of detection of ddPCR was 3.2 copies/L, which was a ten-fold increase compared with that of the qPCR method (32 copies/L). Blood samples from 127 patients with high-risk factors and clinical symptoms for IFI were collected from a NICU in Shenzhen, China, and analyzed using qPCR and ddPCR. Thirty-four blood samples from neonates had a proven or probable diagnosis of IFI, and 25 of these were positive by qPCR, whereas 30 were positive by ddPCR. Among the 93 blood samples from neonates who had a possible IFI or no IFI, 24 were positive using qPCR, and 7 were positive using ddPCR. In conclusion, ddPCR is a rapid and accurate pan-fungal detection method and provides a promising prospect for IFI clinical screening.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aml Soliman ◽  
Asmaa Abdel Aal ◽  
Reham Afify ◽  
Noha Ibrahim

AIM: Aim was to detect Brain and Acute Leukemia, Cytoplasmic (BAALC) and ETS-related gene (ERG) expression in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as well as to study their biologic and prognostic impact on the disease outcome and survival.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The current study was carried out on 44 patients with denovo acute myeloid leukemia, as well as 44 age and sex matched controls. The quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was performed for estimation of BAALC and ERG expression.RESULTS: The current study was carried out on 44 patients with denovo acute myeloid leukemia, as well as 44 age and sex matched controls. The quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was performed for estimation of BAALC and ERG expression. BAALC was expressed in 36 (81.82%) of AML cases versus 10 (22.72%) of the control group which was highly statistically significant (P < 0.001). While ERG was positive in 39(88.64%) of cases and 8(18.18 %) of controls and that was also highly statistically significant (P < 0.001).CONCLUSION: Further researches still needed to clarify the role of BAALC and ERG in the pathogenesis of leukemia and their importance as targets for treatment of AML.


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