JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rosenstraus, M.
Right arrow Articles by Spadoro, J. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rosenstraus, M.
Right arrow Articles by Spadoro, J. P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 191-197, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

An Internal Control for Routine Diagnostic PCR: Design, Properties, and Effect on Clinical Performance

Maurice Rosenstraus,* Zhuang Wang, Sheng-Yung Chang, David DeBonville, and Joanne P. Spadoro

Roche Molecular Systems, Branchburg, New Jersey 08876

Received 26 June 1997/Returned for modification 10 September 1997/Accepted 10 October 1997

We constructed internal controls (ICs) to provide assurance that clinical specimens are successfully amplified and detected. The IC nucleic acids contain primer binding regions identical to those of the target sequence and contain a unique probe binding region that differentiates the IC from amplified target nucleic acid. Because only 20 copies of the IC are introduced into each test sample, a positive IC signal indicates that amplification was sufficient to generate a positive signal from targets present at the limit of test sensitivity. The COBAS AMPLICOR Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and human hepatitis C virus tests exhibited inhibition rates ranging from 5 to 9%. Approximately 64% of these inhibitory specimens were not inhibitory when a second aliquot was tested. Because repeatedly inhibitory specimens were not reported as false negative and because additional infected specimens were detected during retesting, test sensitivities were 1 to 6% greater than they would have been if the IC had not been used.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Roche Molecular Systems, 1080 Route 202, Somerville, NJ 08876. Phone: (908) 253-7463. Fax: (908) 253-7665. E-mail: Maurice.Rosenstraus{at}roche.com.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 191-197, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.