Potential use of Amplicor PCR kit in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis from gastric aspirate

• Published in: Journal of microbiological methods Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 339 - 344
• Main Authors: Mitarai, S, Tanoue, S, Sugita, C, Sugihara, E, Tamura, A, Nagono, Y, Tsuboi, M, Nagayama, N, Kurashima, A, Nagai, H, Shishido, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 01-12-2001; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Amplicor; Bacterial diseases; Bacteriological methods and techniques used in bacteriology; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Diagnosis; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastric aspirate; Gastric Juice - microbiology; Gene Amplification; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - genetics; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - isolation & purification; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - diagnosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - microbiology; Amplicor; Gastric aspirate; Tuberculosis; Diagnosis; Human; Evaluation; Mycobacterium; Lung disease; Disease; Respiratory disease; Use; Mycobacterial infection; Method; Potential; Infection; Polymerase chain reaction; Sensitivity; Specificity; Mycobacteriales; Kit; Bacteriosis; Mycobacteriaceae; Bacteria; Actinomycetes; Detection
• ISSN: 0167-7012; 1872-8359
• DOI: 10.1016/S0167-7012(01)00341-4

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of mycobacteria from gastric aspirate for the diagnosis of tuberculosis is not fully evaluated up to now. A total of 116 gastric aspirate specimens were collected from patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. The breakdown of diagnosis was 67 pulmonary tuberculosis, 16 nontuberculous mycobacterial infection, 5 extra pulmonary tuberculosis, and 28 other lung diseases. The conventional methods were shown to have a sensitivity of 47.8% and a specificity of 79.6%; on the other hand, Amplicor had 34.9% and 97.0%, respectively. The Amplicor provided a more rapid and specific method for diagnosing tuberculosis and was more useful than the conventional.