Evaluation of DNA probe test for clinical diagnosis of chlamydial and gonococcal infections of the uterine cervix.
A DNA probe test (Gen-Probe) was compared with cell culture and an enzyme immunoassay method (Chlamydiazyme) for the clinical diagnosis of cervical chlamydial infection. A total of 127 specimens (95 before treatment and 32 after treatment) were obtained from 95 patients considered members of a high risk population. Forty-five (47.4%) of the 95 cases examined before treatment were positive for the DNA probe and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the test vs cell culture were 78.4, 93.4, 88.9, and 86.6%, respectively. Comparison of these data with those of Chlamydiazyme showed that the DNA probe method was a little less sensitive but much more specific. The kit could also detect gonococcal infection with sufficient accuracy in the same specimen as used for Chlamydia trachomatis, and was considered to be a useful tool as another noncultural alternative for clinical diagnosis of sexually transmitted chlamydial and gonococcal infections of the uterine cervix, although further improvement on the kit for Chlamydia trachomatis is expected.
Nohara
M
M
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagano Red Cross Hospital.
Sugase
M
M
Kawana
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections; D015342:DNA Probes; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D011247:Pregnancy; D002575:Uterine Cervicitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*
D015342:DNA Probes