title: System for simultaneous detection of 16 pathogens related to urethritis to diagnose mixed infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Urethritis is not always caused by a single pathogen, and isolation of more than two pathogens from one patient is not uncommon. We developed a method to simultaneously detect 16 pathogens related to urethritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We designed specific primers used for amplification of urethritis pathogens in our 16-well microplate assay. Sixteen microliters of each reaction mixture containing template DNA was added to each well to amplify 16 pathogens simultaneously.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After we evaluated the specificity and sensitivity of this microplate polymerase chain reaction method, we used it to detect pathogens in clinical samples. Of 163 clinical samples, 49.7% (81/163) were positive for specific pathogens, and 6.7% (11/163) showed mixed infection. A specific pathogen was not identified in 43.6% (71/163) of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We developed a 16-well microplate assay with 16 specific primers to identify pathogens associated with urethritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Gifu University, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan. naruchin72sep@proof.ocn.ne.jp
authors.forename: Naruyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masue
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deguchi
authors.forename: Shigeaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Kiyofumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohkusu
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ezaki
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014526:Urethritis / Q000382:microbiology*