title: Using polymerase chain reaction with primers based on the plcB-plcC intergenic region to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a system for the molecular diagnosis of tuberculosis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), constructing primers based on the difference in gene organization of the intergenic region of phospholipase C (plcB-plcC region), which differentiates Mycobacterium tuberculosis from other mycobacteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  A PCR product of the expected size (432 bp) was obtained from M. tuberculosis and M. africanum only. A total of 33 mycobacterial isolates and 273 clinical samples from patients suspected of having tuberculosis were examined. These were used in the comparative study of the PCR technique versus culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For PCR versus culture, the data showed 93.8% accuracy (p < 0.0001), 93.1% sensitivity (CI: 88.7-96.0), and 96.4% specificity (CI: 96.1-99.4). The Kappa value (0.82) shows that there was a near-perfect concordance between the two tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of the plcB-plcC region in PCR amplification was found to be an important and reliable tool for the specific diagnosis of tuberculosis in the samples analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Amplicon, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Hermides
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Claudia Giuliano
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Bica
authors.forename: Moisés
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palaci
authors.forename: Reynaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dietze
authors.forename: Luiz Augusto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.forename: Diógenes Santiago
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D010738:Type C Phospholipases / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D010738:Type C Phospholipases