Diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS patients by using polymerase chain reactions on serum specimens.
A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that amplifies the internal transcribed spacers of rRNA genes of Pneumocystis carinii (Pc-ITS-PCR) was compared with dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene PCR to determine its usefulness in the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. All specimens from non-P. carinii pneumonia AIDS patients were both Pc-ITS-PCR- and DHFR PCR-negative. Twenty-six (96%) of 27 bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from P. carinii pneumonia patients were Pc-ITS-PCR-positive, and all 27 of these patients had at least 1 serum sample positive by Pc-ITS-PCR. In contrast, DHFR PCR detected P. carinii in only 4 (17%) of 24 P. carinii-positive lavage specimens and 2 (10%) of the 20 sera from P. carinii pneumonia patients. These results suggest that serum Pc-ITS-PCR may be useful for the diagnosis of P. carinii pneumonia.
Atzori
C
C
II Divisione Malattie Infettive, Ospedale L. Sacco, Milan, Italy.
Lu
J J
JJ
Jiang
B
B
Bartlett
M S
MS
Orlando
G
G
Queener
S F
SF
Smith
J W
JW
Cargnel
A
A
Lee
C H
CH
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D011010:Pneumocystis / Q000235:genetics*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics
D004271:DNA, Fungal; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase