title: Polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
abstract: Melioidosis is a potentially lethal infection of humans and animals in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Current methods for detection of the causative organism, Burkholderia pseudomallei, lack both speed and sensitivity. We report the development of a highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction-based method that can detect as few as 35 colony-forming units of B. pseudomallei/mL in saline suspensions. This polymerase chain reaction test also detected the presence of B. pseudomallei DNA in culture-negative splenic tissue obtained from mice infected with the organism, but without clinical evidence of disease. Specificity has been confirmed using a variety of pathogenic and nonpathogenic organisms, including B. mallei, B. cepacia, and Pseudomonas species. The clinical usefulness of this test should be assessed prospectively and compared with conventional diagnostic techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sura
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016957:Burkholderia pseudomallei / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial