Detection of Plasmodium vivax infection in the Republic of Korea by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel technique that rapidly amplifies target DNA in isothermal conditions. In a previous study, the sensitivities and specificities of LAMP, microscopy, and nested PCR were compared in the context of rapid malaria detection. In the present study, LAMP detected vivax malaria parasites in 115 of 117 microscopically positive samples (sensitivity, 98.3%; 95% CI, 97.4-100%), which agreed well with the nested PCR results (sensitivity, 99.1%; 95% CI: 96.0-100%). No positive cases of malaria were detected by LAMP or nested PCR in 50 consecutive feverish patients other than malaria from malaria endemic areas. LAMP performed on DNA extracted from heat-treated blood had a sensitivity of 93.3% (28/30, 95% CI: 84.4-100%) and specificity of 100% (30/30, 95% CI: 100%). The present study shows that LAMP based assays have high sensitivity, specificity, and amplification efficiencies for Plasmodium vivax detection. The authors recommend that LAMP can be considered as a rapid nucleic acid amplification assay for the molecular diagnosis of P. vivax in both clinical laboratories and malaria clinics in areas where vivax malaria is endemic.
Department of Parasitology, Kangwon National University College of Medicine, Hyoja2-dong, Chunchon, Gangwon-do 200-701, Republic of Korea.
Jun-Hu
JH
Chen
Feng
F
Lu
Chae Seung
CS
Lim
Jung-Yeon
JY
Kim
Heui-June
HJ
Ahn
In-Bum
IB
Suh
Satoru
S
Takeo
Takafumi
T
Tsuboi
Jetsumon
J
Sattabongkot
Eun-Taek
ET
Han
D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S