title: Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) for gonorrhoea diagnosis in women: experience of a tertiary care hospital in north India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gonorrhoea is among the most frequent of the estimated bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and has significant health implications in women. The use of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) has been shown to provide enhanced diagnosis of gonorrhoea in female patients. However, it is recommended that an on-going assessment of the test assays should be performed to check for any probable sequence variation occurring in the targeted region. In this study, an in-house PCR targeting opa-gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae was used in conjunction with 16S ribosomal PCR to determine the presence of gonorrhoea in female patients attending the tertiary care hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Endocervical samples collected from 250 female patients with complaints of vaginal or cervical discharge or pain in lower abdomen were tested using opa and 16S ribosomal assay. The samples were also processed by conventional methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 250 female patients included in the study, only one was positive by conventional methods (microscopy and culture) whereas 17 patients were found to be positive based on PCR results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The clinical sensitivity of conventional methods for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae in female patients was low. The gonococcal detection rates increased when molecular method was used giving 16 additional positives. Studies should be done to find out other gene targets that may be used in the screening assays to detect the presence of gonorrhoea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sood
authors.forename: Rachna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Shazia Shaheen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.forename: Madhav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Neeta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Hemanta Kumar
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.forename: Vinod Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C090348:Opa protein, Neisseria