title: Polymerase chain reaction and reverse cross blot hybridization assay for detection of mycobacterial DNA in lupus vulgaris.
abstract: For 5 years, an 83-year-old man had been suffering from slightly itchy erythematous plaques with clearcut margins, located on his left thigh and on his right arm; in addition, on his right auricle there was an erythematous patch with yellowish shadings that had appeared about 3 years before and had progressively spread to the temporal-zygomatic region, the chin and the mandibular arch. These lesions were strongly suggestive of lupus vulgaris; however the conventional bacteriological examinations performed on the biopsy specimen from lesional skin were negative. A diagnosis of lupus vulgaris was achieved through the detection of the 16S rRNA gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a skin biopsy of the patient by means of a polymerase chain reaction followed by a reverse cross blot hybridization, a method which allows the identification of different mycobacterial species in a single hybridization procedure.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Microbiologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanguinetti
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Posteraro
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Chinni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Camaioni
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gobello
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fadda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008177:Lupus Vulgaris / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial