title: Evaluation of a polymerase chain reaction-based assay for diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infection.
abstract: To assess the utility of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infection, blood, plasma, and paraffin-embedded tissue samples were tested using a PCR-based assay that detects a W. bancrofti-specific repetitive DNA sequence. The assay was positive in 100 microL of blood from 40 of 42 microfilaria-positive subjects, the 2 subjects with negative assays having microfilarial counts of 1. Samples from 127 uninfected subjects were PCR-negative. The assay was also positive in 7 of 10 daytime samples in regions where infection is nocturnally periodic; PCR amplification from paraffin-embedded sections established the diagnosis of W. bancrofti infection in another 2 cases. A microtiter ELISA plate-based method was developed for rapid evaluation of large numbers of samples. These results suggest that this PCR-based assay will be useful in diagnosis of W. bancrofti infection in a variety of clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ottesen
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Nutman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001940:Breast / Q000469:parasitology; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005368:Filariasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013085:Spermatic Cord / Q000469:parasitology; D014958:Wuchereria bancrofti / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D018509:DNA, Helminth