A. Stary et al., DETECTION OF CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATIS IN URETHRAL AND URINE SAMPLES FROMSYMPTOMATIC AND ASYMPTOMATIC MALE-PATIENTS BY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION, European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases, 15(6), 1996, pp. 465-471
To evaluate the commercially available polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
assay Amplicor (Roche Molecular Systems, USA) for diagnosis of Chlamy
dia trachomatis infection, urethral and urine swabs from a total of 34
4 male patients were tested and the results compared with those obtain
ed by the nonisotopic hybridization assay Pace 2 (Gen Probe, USA) for
urethral samples and by the enzyme immunoassay EIA MicroTrak (Syva, US
A) for urine. Discrepant results were analyzed by a repeated test run
using a major outer membrane protein-derived primer PCR, by the probe
competition assay, and by the direct immunofluorescence test (DIF). Th
irty-nine men (11.3%) were chlamydia positive, based on the results of
all tests from both sampling sites. The rate of detection of chlamydi
a in urethral specimens by Amplicor and the Pace 2 was 79.5% and 61.5%
, respectively, while the rate of detection in urine sediment was 75%
for both Amplicor and EIA. In the first run of the PCR, a high number
of false-negative results for unfrozen samples was observed, decreasin
g the sensitivity of Amplicor in urine to 47.3%. The results of the st
udy indicate that Amplicor detects more infected individuals compared
with other tests and is suitable as an alternative diagnostic test for
chlamydia infections, using not only urethral specimens but also urin
e specimens. However, the finding of false-negative results when using
Amplicor on unfrozen samples must be further investigated.