Simple blood-spot sampling with nested polymerase chain reaction detection for epidemiology studies on Brugia malayi.
In the absence of a suitable Brugia malayi antigen detection assay, PCR remains one of the more sensitive alternatives to Giemsa-stained thick blood films for B. malayi detection. The need for refrigerated storage and transportation of blood has limited the use of PCR for large-scale epidemiology studies in remote endemic areas. Here we report simple finger-prick blood-spot collection, a one-tube DNA template extraction method and the development of a B. malayi-specific nested PCR assay. The assay was tested on 145 field samples and was positive for all 30 microscopy-positive samples and for an additional 13 samples which were microscopy-negative.
School of Medical Sciences, University of Science Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia. cox@tm.net.my
J
J
Cox-Singh
A S
AS
Pomrehn
H A
HA
Rahman
R
R
Zakaria
A O
AO
Miller
B
B
Singh
D000818:Animals; D017178:Brugia malayi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004605:Elephantiasis, Filarial / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D018509:DNA, Helminth