Development of New Real-time PCR Assays for Detecting Megalocytivirus Across Multiple Genotypes

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
Yasuhiko Kawato ◽  
David M. Cummins ◽  
Stacey Valdeter ◽  
Peter G. Mohr ◽  
Takafumi Ito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
2019 ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
Viet Quynh Tram Ngo ◽  
Thi Ti Na Nguyen ◽  
Hoang Bach Nguyen ◽  
Thi Tuyet Ngoc Tran ◽  
Thi Nam Lien Nguyen ◽  
...  

Introduction: Bacterial meningitis is an acute central nervous infection with high mortality or permanent neurological sequelae if remained undiagnosed. However, traditional diagnostic methods for bacterial meningitis pose challenge in prompt and precise identification of causative agents. Aims: The present study will therefore aim to set up in-house PCR assays for diagnosis of six pathogens causing the disease including H. influenzae type b, S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis, S. suis serotype 2, E. coli and S. aureus. Methods: inhouse PCR assays for detecting six above-mentioned bacteria were optimized after specific pairs of primers and probes collected from the reliable literature resources and then were performed for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with suspected meningitis in Hue Hospitals. Results: The set of four PCR assays was developed including a multiplex real-time PCR for S. suis serotype 2, H. influenzae type b and N. meningitides; three monoplex real-time PCRs for E. coli, S. aureus and S. pneumoniae. Application of the in-house PCRs for 116 CSF samples, the results indicated that 48 (39.7%) cases were positive with S. suis serotype 2; one case was positive with H. influenzae type b; 4 cases were positive with E. coli; pneumococcal meningitis were 19 (16.4%) cases, meningitis with S. aureus and N. meningitidis were not observed in any CSF samples in this study. Conclusion: our in-house real-time PCR assays are rapid, sensitive and specific tools for routine diagnosis to detect six mentioned above meningitis etiological agents. Key words: Bacterial meningitis, etiological agents, multiplex real-time PCR


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Tanja Hoffmann ◽  
Andreas Hahn ◽  
Jaco J. Verweij ◽  
Gérard Leboulle ◽  
Olfert Landt ◽  
...  

This study aimed to assess standard and harsher nucleic acid extraction schemes for diagnostic helminth real-time PCR approaches from stool samples. A standard procedure for nucleic acid extraction from stool and a procedure including bead-beating as well as proteinase K digestion were compared with group-, genus-, and species-specific real-time PCR assays targeting helminths and nonhelminth pathogens in human stool samples. From 25 different in-house and commercial helminth real-time PCR assays applied to 77 stool samples comprising 67 historic samples and 10 external quality assessment scheme samples positively tested for helminths, higher numbers of positive test results were observed after bead-beating-based nucleic acid extraction for 5/25 (20%) real-time PCR assays irrespective of specificity issues. Lower cycle threshold values were observed for one real-time PCR assay after the standard extraction scheme, and for four assays after the bead-beating-based scheme. Agreement between real-time PCR results after both nucleic acid extraction strategies according to Cohen’s kappa ranged from poor to almost perfect for the different assays. Varying agreement was observed in eight nonhelminth real-time PCR assays applied to 67 historic stool samples. The study indicates highly variable effects of harsh nucleic acid extraction approaches depending on the real-time PCR assay used.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 656
Author(s):  
Konstantin Tanida ◽  
Andreas Hahn ◽  
Kirsten Alexandra Eberhardt ◽  
Egbert Tannich ◽  
Olfert Landt ◽  
...  

Microsporidiosis is an infection predominantly occurring in immunosuppressed patients and infrequently also in travelers. This study was performed to comparatively evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of real-time PCR assays targeting microsporidia with etiological relevance in the stool of human patients in a latent class analysis-based test comparison without a reference standard with perfect accuracy. Thereby, two one-tube real-time PCR assays and two two-tube real-time PCR assays targeting Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalocytozoon spp. were included in the assessment with reference stool material (20), stool samples from Ghanaian HIV-positive patients (903), and from travelers, migrants and Colombian indigenous people (416). Sensitivity of the assays ranged from 60.4% to 97.4% and specificity from 99.1% to 100% with substantial agreement according to Cohen’s kappa of 79.6%. Microsporidia DNA was detected in the reference material and the stool of the HIV patients but not in the stool of the travelers, migrants, and the Colombian indigenous people. Accuracy-adjusted prevalence was 5.8% (n = 78) for the study population as a whole. In conclusion, reliable detection of enteric disease-associated microsporidia in stool samples by real-time PCR could be demonstrated, but sensitivity between the compared microsporidia-specific real-time PCR assays varied.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Kathrin Link ◽  
Matthias Eddicks ◽  
Liangliang Nan ◽  
Mathias Ritzmann ◽  
Gerd Sutter ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is divided into eight genotypes including the previously described genotypes PCV2a to PCV2f and the two new genotypes PCV2g and PCV2h. PCV2 genotyping has become an important task in molecular epidemiology and to advance research on the prophylaxis and pathogenesis of PCV2 associated diseases. Standard genotyping of PCV2 is based on the sequencing of the viral genome or at least of the open reading frame 2. Although, the circovirus genome is small, classical sequencing is time consuming, expensive, less sensitive and less compatible with mass testing compared with modern real-time PCR assays. Here we report about a new PCV2 genotyping method using qPCR. Methods Based on the analysis of several hundred PCV2 full genome sequences, we identified PCV2 genotype specific sequences or single-nucleotide polymorphisms. We designed six TaqMan PCR assays that are specific for single genotypes PCV2a to PCV2f and two qPCRs targeting two genotypes simultaneously (PCV2g/PCV2d and PCV2h/PCV2c). To improve specific binding of oligonucleotide primers and TaqMan probes, we used locked nucleic acid technology. We evaluated amplification efficiency, diagnostic sensitivity and tested assay specificity for the respective genotypes. Results All eight PCV2 genotype specific qPCRs demonstrated appropriate amplification efficiencies between 91 and 97%. Testing samples from an epidemiological field study demonstrated a diagnostic sensitivity of the respective genotype specific qPCR that was comparable to a highly sensitive pan-PCV2 qPCR system. Genotype specificity of most qPCRs was excellent. Limited unspecific signals were obtained when a high viral load of PCV2b was tested with qPCRs targeting PCV2d or PCV2g. The same was true for the PCV2a specific qPCR when high copy numbers of PCV2d were tested. The qPCR targeting PCV2h/PCV2c showed some minor cross-reaction with PCV2d, PCV2f and PCV2g. Conclusion Genotyping of PCV2 is important for routine diagnosis as well as for epidemiological studies. The introduced genotyping qPCR system is ideal for mass testing and should be a valuable complement to PCV2 sequencing, especially in the case of simultaneous infections with multiple PCV2 genotypes, subclinically infected animals or research studies that require large sample numbers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilo Ikuta ◽  
Fabiana de Oliveira Solla Sobral ◽  
Fernanda Kieling Moreira Lehmann ◽  
Vinicius Proença da Silveira ◽  
Silvia de Carli ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Tomaso ◽  
Emil C Reisinger ◽  
Sascha Dahouk ◽  
Dimitrios Frangoulidis ◽  
Alexander Rakin ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (9) ◽  
pp. 1229-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catharina F. M. Linssen ◽  
Jan A. Jacobs ◽  
Pieter Beckers ◽  
Kate E. Templeton ◽  
Judith Bakkers ◽  
...  

Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) is an opportunistic infection affecting immunocompromised patients. While conventional diagnosis of PCP by microscopy is cumbersome, the use of PCR to diagnose PCP has great potential. Nevertheless, inter-laboratory validation and standardization of PCR assays is lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter-laboratory agreement of three independently developed real-time PCR assays for the detection of P. jiroveci in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples. Therefore, 124 samples were collected in three tertiary care laboratories (Leiden University Medical Center, Maastricht Infection Center and Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre) and were tested by both microscopy and real-time PCR. Of 41 samples positive for P. jiroveci by microscopy, 40 were positive in all three PCR assays. The remaining sample was positive in a single assay only. Out of 83 microscopy-negative samples, 69 were negative in all three PCR assays. The other 14 samples were found positive, either in all three assays (n=5), in two (n=2) or in one of the assays (n=7). The data demonstrate high inter-laboratory agreement among real-time PCR assays for the detection of P. jiroveci.


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