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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1998, p. 2714-2717, Vol. 36, No. 9
Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department
of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester,
Minnesota 55905
Received 10 March 1998/Returned for modification 13 April
1998/Accepted 3 June 1998
In the past few years, application of the PCR to the detection of
herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from
patients with encephalitis and meningitis has become standard
laboratory practice. However, from an operational perspective, the true
diagnostic value of PCR in this setting is yet to be realized because
most laboratories subject the amplification products to lengthy probe
hybridization procedures by Southern blotting. As alternatives to
Southern blotting, we evaluated colorimetric microtiter plate (MTP)
systems from ViroMed Laboratories, Inc. (PrimeCapture), CPG, Inc.
(Quanti-PATH), and Incstar Corp. (GEN-ETI-K), in addition to a
system developed at the Mayo Clinic with the PCR ELISA system
(Boehringer Mannheim Corp.). We tested PCR products from 86 clinical CSF specimens submitted to our Molecular Microbiology Laboratory. The CSF specimens used had to have sufficient volume for
comparative analysis. By conventional Southern blotting methods, 54 were positive and 32 were negative for HSV DNA. Compared with Southern
blotting, the sensitivity and specificity were 63.0 and 100.0%,
respectively, for the PrimeCapture system, 98.2 and 96.9%, respectively, for the Quanti-PATH system, 98.2 and 100.0%,
respectively, for the GEN-ETI-K system, and 100.0 and 96.9%,
respectively, for the Mayo system. All four MTP systems had turnaround
times 12 to 24 h less than that for Southern blotting. There were
no significant differences in costs or technologist time
between the Mayo system and Southern blotting. Other features of the
Mayo system include type-specific genotypic identification of
HSV and the potential for determination of drug resistance by DNA
sequencing. Overall, we found that colorimetric MTP systems were likely
to improve test turnaround times and patient care at no additional
cost.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Comparative Evaluation of Colorimetric Microtiter Plate Systems
for Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus in Cerebrospinal Fluid
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Hilton 470, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St., S.W., Rochester MN 55905. Phone: (507) 284-2876. Fax: (507) 284-4272. E-mail: persing.david{at}mayo.edu.
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