Rosenblatt, Jon E.

We compared the diagnosis of malaria in 297 patients from Thailand by a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using the LightCycler with conventional microscopy using Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood films. The PCR assay can be completed in one hour and has the potential to detect and identify four species of Plasmodium in a single reaction by use of melting temperature curve analysis (however, we did not detect Plasmodium ovale in this study). Blood was collected, stored, and transported on IsoCode STIX, which provide a stable matrix for the archiving and rapid simple extraction of DNA. A genus-specific primer set corresponding to the 18S ribosomal RNA was used to amplify the target sequence. Fluorescence resonance energy technology hybridization probes were designed for P. falciparum over a region containing basepair mismatches, which allowed differentiation of the other Plasmodium species. The PCR results correlated with the microscopic results in 282 (95%) of 297 patient specimens. Most of these were single-species infections caused by P. vivax (150) and P. falciparum (120), along with 5 P. malariae, 2 mixed infections (P. falciparum and P. vivax), and 5 negative specimens. No negative microscopy specimens were positive by PCR (100% specificity for detection of any Plasmodium). The 15 discrepant results could not be resolved, but given the subjective nature of microscopy and the analytical objectivity of the PCR, the PCR results may be correct. The ability of the PCR method to detect mixed infections or to detect P. ovale could not be determined in this study. Within the limitations of initial equipment costs, this real-time PCR assay is a rapid, accurate, and efficient method for the specific diagnosis of malaria. It may have application in clinical laboratories, as well as in epidemiologic studies and antimalarial efficacy trials.

ABSTRACT We evaluated two automated systems, MagNA Pure (Roche Molecular Biochemicals, Indianapolis, Ind.) and BioRobot 9604 (Qiagen, Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.) as effective replacements for the manual IsoQuick method (Orca Research, Inc., Bothell, Wash.) for extraction of herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA from dermal and genital tract specimens prior to analysis by LightCycler PCR. Of 198 specimens (152 genital, 46 dermal), 92 (46.2%) were positive for HSV DNA by LightCycler PCR after automated extraction of specimens with either the MagNA Pure or BioRobot 9604 instrument. The manual IsoQuick method yielded HSV DNA (total n = 95) from three additional specimens that were negative by the automated method ( P = 0.25, sign test). Although the mean numbers of LightCycler PCR cycles required to reach positivity differed statistically significantly among all three of the methods of extraction, the estimated means differed by no more than 1.5 cycles ( P < 0.05). Seventy (76%) of the 92 specimens that were LightCycler PCR positive by all three extraction methods were also positive by shell vial cell culture assay. HSV DNA was detected by a lower LightCycler PCR cycle number (26.1 cycles) in specimens culture positive for the virus than in culture-negative samples (33.3 cycles) ( P < 0.0001). The manual IsoQuick and automated MagNA Pure and BioRobot 9604 methods provide standardized, reproducible extraction of HSV DNA for LightCycler PCR. The decision to implement a manual versus an automated procedure depends on factors such as costs related to the number of specimens processed rather than on the minimal differences in the technical efficiency of extraction of nucleic acids among these methods.