title: A second European collaborative study on polymerase chain reaction for Toxoplasma gondii, involving 15 teams.
abstract: In order to investigate the accuracy and practicability of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the antenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis, a collaborative study involving 15 European laboratories was performed under the auspices of the Biomed 2 Programme of the European Community. Each team received 12 aliquots (four negative, eight positive) of 'artificial samples' made of amniotic fluid spiked with tachyzoites of the RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii. Each team performed its own PCR protocol (all were different). Nine of the 15 laboratories were able to detect a single parasite, but two of the 15 found all samples negative. Four of the 15 laboratories found one or more control samples to be falsely positive. This study highlights the lack of homogeneity between PCR protocols and performance and underlines the need for an external quality assurance scheme which could provide 'reference' samples that could be used by any laboratory wanting to establish and maintain an accurate diagnostic test based on PCR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, University Hospital, Grenoble, France. herve.pelloux@ujf-grenoble.fr
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pelloux
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Angelici
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aspöck
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bessières
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blatz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Pezzo
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Girault
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gratzl
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holberg-Petersen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lappalainen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naessens
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olsson
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000469:parasitology*; D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D005062:European Union; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007753:Laboratories; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D011786:Quality Control; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014123:Toxoplasmosis; D014125:Toxoplasmosis, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan