title: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in so-called Eales' disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report mycobacterial load in the vitreous of patients labeled as having Eales' disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-eight patients were prospectively enrolled into 3 groups: 28 patients with so-called Eales' disease (group A); 30 positive controls with specific uveitis syndromes (group B), and 30 negative controls (group C). The undiluted vitreous humor samples were collected and subjected to real-time PCR assay for MPB64 gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and load quantified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen (57.14%) vitreous fluid samples in group A; 1 sample in group B, and none of the samples in group C were positive for MTB genome from the vitreous. The copies of MTB genomes in the positive samples in group A were 1.52 × 10(4) to 1.01 × 10(6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MTB genome was demonstrated in more than 50% of vitreous fluid samples with significant bacillary load, indicating that half of patients with so-called Eales' disease are indeed cases of tubercular vasculitis.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Eye Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Rishiraj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toor
authors.forename: Swapnil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parchand
authors.forename: Kusum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Vishali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Amod
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D031300:Retinal Vasculitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D014392:Tuberculosis, Ocular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D014605:Uveitis / Q000382:microbiology; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial