title: Detection of DNA of causative agent of spotted fever group rickettsiosis in Japan from the patient's blood sample by polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied for the etiological diagnosis of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiosis in Japan. Nucleotide primers derived from the 17-kDa antigen gene of Rickettsia rickettsii primed a rickettsia-specific 246-base-pair product for all of the Katayama, Abe, Misaka and Kojima strains, which we had isolated previously. Moreover, we were able to detect the same product by PCR amplification from the peripheral blood of a patient in the acute stage of the illness. The PCR method is considered to be useful for rapid etiological diagnosis of SFG rickettsiosis in Japan.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Ehime University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tange
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D001483:Base Sequence; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial