Comparison of in-house polymerase chain reaction method with the Roche Amplicor technique for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in cytological specimens.
Two techniques have been approved by the United States FDA for diagnosis of tuberculosis in smear positive sputa: LCX M. tuberculosis, a ligase chain reaction procedure manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, and Amplicor, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure manufactured by Roche. However, these commercial methods are expensive and beyond the reach of laboratories in most developing countries. We compared the Roche Amplicor kit with an in-house PCR using a primer set for Mycobacterium tuberculosis/bovis directed at MPB 64 protein gene. It was able to distinguish between M. tuberculosis, M. avium, M. gordonii, M. intracellularae, and M. kansasii. Fifty-seven cytological samples were submitted to the laboratory for molecular diagnosis of M. tuberculosis. Both procedures were run on every sample submitted and the two methods agreed completely. The custom-made method is less expensive than the commercial technique.
Mehrotra
Ravi
R
Molecular and Tumor Immunology Laboratory, Franz Cancer Institute, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, Oregon 97213, USA.
Metz
Paul
P
Kohlhepp
Sue
S
D003581:Cytodiagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic