title: Diagnosis of typhus infection with Rickettsia tsutsugamushi by polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Two sets of oligonucleotide primers were used to amplify the genomic DNA of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus (tsutsugamushi disease), by the polymerase chain reaction. Each set of primers amplified 538-bp and 109-bp products, representing part of a gene encoding a possible major 58-kDa immunogenic protein, from whole genomic DNA extracted from R. tsutsugamushi strains Karp, Kato, Gilliam, Kuroki and Kawasaki. No amplification was observed from R. sibirica, R. rickettsii, mouse and human genomic DNA. DNA amplification was observed from crude lysates of peripheral whole blood, tissue homogenates and paraffin-embedded skin biopsy sections obtained from patients with scrub typhus disease. Southern blot analysis demonstrated the specificity of the amplified DNA fragments following hybridisation with a DNA probe generated from R. tsutsugamushi strain Karp. By means of this procedure, a rapid and sensitive diagnosis of scrub typhus disease can be made during the acute stage of this infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Yokohama City University, School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagatani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakajima
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000737:chemistry; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007739:L Cells; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides