title: A rapid loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay targeting hspX for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.
abstract: A rapid, simple, and low-cost diagnostic tool for tuberculosis (TB) detection is  urgently needed in countries with a high TB burden. Here, we report a novel loop-mediated  isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay targeting the hspX gene for the rapid detection of  Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. africanum, and M. microti. The specificity of this  assay was evaluated using 4 reference strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC), 22  species of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), 7 non-mycobacterial species, and 50 clinical  M. tuberculosis isolates. All the reference MTC strains and M. tuberculosis clinical isolates  were successfully detected by this method, and there were no false-positive results with NTM or  non-mycobacterial species, which demonstrates the high specificity of this assay for MTC. The  detection limit was 10 copies of MTC genome within 27 min, and the detection speed of this  assay was higher than that of any other isothermal methods reported so far. Because of its  speed, simplicity, sensitivity, specificity, and inexpensiveness, the TB hspX LAMP assay is a  potential gene diagnostic method for TB detection in developing countries with a high TB burden.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tuberculosis, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Aixiao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Aki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamaru
authors.forename: Isamu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Zhongyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C118127:HspX protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis