Evaluation of three polymerase chain reaction techniques for detection ofBrucellaDNA in peripheral human blood

2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 352-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manal M. Baddour ◽  
Dalal H. Alkhalifa

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonosis. Currently the diagnosis of this zoonosis is based on microbiological and serological laboratory tests. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used to detect DNA from Brucella . Different target genes, primer pairs, PCR techniques, and extraction procedures have previously been published for Brucella detection. But only a few of these primers have been used in human samples, and only one study has been carried out to compare sensitivity between them. In the present study, 3 sets of primers and 3 different PCR protocols amplifying 3 different regions of the Brucella genome were compared for detection of Brucella DNA in a peripheral-blood PCR assay to conclude which is most suitable for the clinical diagnostic laboratory. These 3 pairs of primers amplify 3 different fragments included in (i) a gene encoding a 31 kDa Brucella abortus antigen (B4/B5), (ii) a sequence 16S rRNA of B. abortus (F4/R2), and (iii) a gene encoding an outer membrane protein (omp-2) (JPF/JPR). Some modifications on the reported techniques were applied during the present work to improve the outcome. The results showed that the B4/B5 primer pair had the highest sensitivity for detection of positive samples (98%), the JPF/JPR primer pair detected 88.4% of positive samples, whereas F4/R2 primer pair was the least sensitive, being able to detect only 53.1% of positive samples. The specificity of the 3 techniques was 100%. The B4/B5 primer pair was also able to detect the smallest number of bacteria (700 cfu/mL), whereas JPF/JPR was able to detect 7 × 105 cfu/mL and F4/R2 was able to detect 7 × 107cfu/mL. It is thus concluded that using the B4/B5 primer PCR with the suggested modifications is a robust assay, which meets the sensitivity requirements to be used for testing of human blood samples for brucellosis in the diagnostic laboratory.

1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 910-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
D O Ho-Yen ◽  
A W Joss ◽  
A H Balfour ◽  
E T Smyth ◽  
D Baird ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
Vol 87 (8) ◽  
pp. 677-679
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Torres ◽  
Bernadette Ramirez ◽  
Ferdinand Salazar ◽  
Ma. Pasay ◽  
Judith Alamares ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Aline T.A. Chagas ◽  
Michelle D. Oliveira ◽  
Jose M.S. Mezencio ◽  
Eduardo A.M. Silva ◽  
Leandro L. Oliveira ◽  
...  

The <em>Dengue virus</em> is the main arbovirus that affects man in terms of morbidity and mortality. The detection of the virus is very important for epidemiological surveillance, so here we propose to standardize and compare the immunodot blot (IDB) and multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (M-RT-PCR) techniques to detect and characterize the dengue virus (DENV) serotypes in samples of <em>Aedes aegypti</em> larvae. Thus, the IDB and M-RT-PCR techniques were standardized using macerated samples of larvae collected in nature. The use of monoclonal antibodies in IDB has not shown great results, but DENV detection through this method was possible using polyclonal antibodies. The distinction of serotypes 1, 2 and 3 was carried out by M-RT-PCR.


2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flaviane Granero Maltempe ◽  
Vanessa Pietrowski Baldin ◽  
Mariana Aparecida Lopes ◽  
Vera Lúcia Dias Siqueira ◽  
Regiane Bertin de Lima Scodro ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Leprosy is a neglected tropical disease and an important public health problem, especially in developing countries. It is a chronic infectious disease that is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, which has a predilection for the skin and peripheral nerves. Although it has low sensitivity, slit-skin smear (SSS) remains the conventional auxiliary laboratory technique for the clinical diagnosis of leprosy. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a molecular biology technique that holds promise as a simple and sensitive diagnostic tool. In the present study, the performance of two PCR methods, using different targets, PCR-LP and PCR-P, were compared with SSS with regard to leprosy diagnosis in a reference laboratory. M. leprae DNA was extracted from 106 lymph samples of 40 patients who had clinical suspicion of leprosy. The samples were subjected to both PCR techniques and SSS. Amplification of the human b-globin gene was used as PCR inhibitor control. The specificity of both PCR techniques was 100%, and sensitivity was 0.007 and 0.015 µg/ml for PCR-LP and PCR-P, respectively. No significant difference was found between either the PCR-LP or PCR-P results and SSS results (p > 0.05). Although PCR is not yet a replacement for SSS in the diagnosis of leprosy, this technique may be used as an efficient auxiliary tool for early detection of the disease, especially in endemic regions. This strategy may also be useful in cases in which SSS results are negative (e.g., in paucibacillary patients) and cases in which skin biopsy cannot be performed.


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