SETTING: Saint Louis Hospital, Paris, France. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical relevance of detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis. DESIGN: Single-centre prospective case study of 90 hospitalised patients and 50 healthy subjects or blood donors from 1 January to 30 June 1998. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients were diagnosed with tuberculosis (26.7%); 20 tuberculosis patients were culture-positive, with seven smear-positive for acid-fast bacilli. Sensitivity of smear, culture and nested PCR was 30.4 (7/23), 87 (20/23) and 30.4% (7/23), respectively. The specificity of smear and culture was 100%, and the specificity of the nested PCR was 96% in the healthy subjects. However, the specificity decreased to 83.6% in the hospitalised patients, with 11 nested PCR-positive patients without a diagnosis of tuberculosis. The sensitivity of the nested PCR was low in pulmonary tuberculosis (22.2%), but increased in pulmonary/extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (50%), extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (33%), and disseminated tuberculosis (33%). CONCLUSION: The use of a nested PCR assay on PBMC may pose problems for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis with regard to low sensitivity and specificity. However, further studies are needed to confirm this technique as an alternative test for the diagnosis of paucibacillary forms of tuberculosis.
SETTING: Saint Louis Hospital, Paris, France. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical relevance of detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis. DESIGN: Single-centre prospective case study of 90 hospitalised patients and 50 healthy subjects or blood donors from 1 January to 30 June 1998. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients were diagnosed with tuberculosis (26.7%); 20 tuberculosispatients were culture-positive, with seven smear-positive for acid-fast bacilli. Sensitivity of smear, culture and nested PCR was 30.4 (7/23), 87 (20/23) and 30.4% (7/23), respectively. The specificity of smear and culture was 100%, and the specificity of the nested PCR was 96% in the healthy subjects. However, the specificity decreased to 83.6% in the hospitalised patients, with 11 nested PCR-positive patients without a diagnosis of tuberculosis. The sensitivity of the nested PCR was low in pulmonary tuberculosis (22.2%), but increased in pulmonary/extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (50%), extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (33%), and disseminated tuberculosis (33%). CONCLUSION: The use of a nested PCR assay on PBMC may pose problems for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis with regard to low sensitivity and specificity. However, further studies are needed to confirm this technique as an alternative test for the diagnosis of paucibacillary forms of tuberculosis.
Authors: V Drouillon; G Delogu; G Dettori; P H Lagrange; M Benecchi; F Houriez; K Baroli; F Ardito; R Torelli; C Chezzi; G Fadda; J-L Herrmann Journal: J Clin Microbiol Date: 2009-09-09 Impact factor: 5.948
Authors: Zaida Araujo; Francesca Giampietro; María de los Angeles Bochichio; Andrea Palacios; Jenifer Dinis; Jaime Isern; Jacobus Henry de Waard; Elsa Rada; Rafael Borges; Carlos Fernández de Larrea; Angel Villasmil; Magnolia Vanegas; Jose Antonio Enciso-Moreno; Manuel Alfonso Patarroyo Journal: Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz Date: 2013-04 Impact factor: 2.743