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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2006, p. 1821-1827, Vol. 44, No. 5
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.44.5.1821-1827.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Development and Evaluation of a Rapid, Simple, and Sensitive Immunochromatographic Assay To Detect Thermostable Direct Hemolysin Produced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Enrichment Cultures of Stool Specimens

Division of Bacteriology, Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, 3-69, Nakamichi 1-chome, Higashinari-ku, Osaka 537-0025, Japan

Received 19 September 2005/ Returned for modification 6 November 2005/ Accepted 20 February 2006

Thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) is considered to be a major virulence factor in Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and most cases of V. parahaemolyticus diarrhea in humans are caused by tdh gene-positive strains. In the present study, we developed an immunochromatographic assay to detect TDH (TDH-ICA) and evaluated the utility of TDH-ICA for the diagnosis of V. parahaemolyticus diarrhea. TDH-ICA allowed the detection of 0.2 ng/ml of TDH within 10 min. Fecal homogenates were spiked with various numbers of tdh-positive V. parahaemolyticus organisms, and their enrichment cultures were tested with TDH-ICA. The results of detection of TDH in the enrichment cultures by TDH-ICA were in accord with the results of recovery of the spiked V. parahaemolyticus organisms from the enrichment cultures by plating onto thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar. When enrichment cultures of 217 stool specimens from patients with diarrhea were tested with TDH-ICA, the TDH-ICA results showed 100% sensitivity and specificity compared to the results of isolation of V. parahaemolyticus from the stool specimens by a conventional bacterial culture test. Since TDH-ICA was able to detect TDH in a fecal enrichment culture within 10 min, TDH-ICA testing of a fecal enrichment culture could be completed rapidly and easily within approximately 16 h, including incubation time for the fecal enrichment culture. These results indicate that TDH-ICA is a rapid, simple, and sensitive TDH detection method and that TDH-ICA testing of a fecal enrichment culture is useful as an adjunct to facilitate the early diagnosis of V. parahaemolyticus diarrhea.

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