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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 01 1997, 132-138, Vol 35, No. 1
MF Shaio, PR Lin and JY Liu
A colorimetric one-tube nested PCR was developed for the detection of
Trichomonas vaginalis in clinical vaginal discharge specimens. A family of
650-bp specific DNA repeats from the T. vaginalis genome was targeted.
There was no cross-reaction with human DNA or other infectious agents,
including Pentatrichomonas hominis and Giardia lamblia. The colorimetric
assay was applied as an adjunct to nested PCR for semiquantitative
determination of T. vaginalis DNA at levels corresponding to 1 to 1,000
parasites. PCR of samples prepared by a rapid boiling method was as
sensitive and specific as PCR of samples prepared by the standard DNA
extraction method: the equivalent of one T. vaginalis organism in 20
microliters of vaginal discharge could be detected. The colorimetric nested
PCR was compared with wet mount and culture for the detection of T.
vaginalis. A total of 378 clinical vaginal discharge specimens from
symptomatic patients were examined; 31 patients were positive for T.
vaginalis both by culture and by nested PCR. However, only 17 of these 31
patients were positive by wet mount examination. In addition, of 113
asymptomatic patients, 9 were positive for T. vaginalis by nested PCR. Of
these nine PCR-positive patients, only two were also positive both by wet
mount and by culture, four patients were positive by culture but negative
by wet mount, and three patients were negative both by wet mount and by
culture. No specimens negative by nested PCR were positive by wet mount or
by culture. The three asymptomatic patients with PCR-positive but wet
mount- and culture-negative samples were subsequently found to have T.
vaginalis infection after repeated and prolonged culture was performed.
This colorimetric nested PCR was very sensitive compared with culture for
the diagnosis of vaginal trichomoniasis, especially asymptomatic T.
vaginalis infection. It is also simple, specific, rapid, and
semiquantitative.
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Colorimetric one-tube nested PCR for detection of Trichomonas vaginalis in vaginal discharge
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. Shaio@ndmc1.ndmctsgh.edu.tw
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