Detection of Leishmania in the blood of early kala-azar patients with the aid of the polymerase chain reaction.
Samples from 39 patients with symptoms suggestive of early visceral leishmaniasis were independently assayed by microscopy of tissue smears, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of blood deoxyribonucleic acid. Of these patients, 19 were confirmed as positive or negative by all 3 tests; 11 patients (28%) negative by smear were positive by ELISA and PCR; and 7 (18%) were positive by PCR alone. These results demonstrate the high sensitivity of the non-invasive PCR and, to a smaller extent, ELISA, in the early diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis.
Adhya
S
S
Genetic Engineering Laboratory (Leishmania Group), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta, India.
Chatterjee
M
M
Hassan
M Q
MQ
Mukherjee
S
S
Sen
S
S
D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D016054:DNA, Protozoan