Rapid Diagnosis of <i>Chlamydia trachomatis</i> with a Nucleic Acid Probe in Male and Female Patients

Abstract

To evaluate a commercially available DNA hybridization test, the Gen-Probe Pace 2 assay (GP) was compared with the Chlamydiazyme (CZ) for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in urethral and endocervical specimens. Samples were collected from 300 persons, including 199 registered and 43 nonregistered female prostitutes, examined for screening purposes, as well as 22 male and 36 female symptomatic sexually transmitted disease (STD) patients. The overall prevalence of C. trachomatis was 7.3% in all persons examined with an infection rate of 20.9% in the nonregistered prostitutes, 2.5% in the registered prostitutes and 13.8% in the STD patients. The overall concordance of both diagnostic methods was 98.7% in all samples examined, 100% in male and 98.6% in female samples. Specimens with discordant results were further analyzed by a direct immunofluorescence test (MicroTrak) and by the probe competition assay (PCA). All samples only positive in the GP assay could be confirmed by the PCA while one result which was positive in the CZ could not be confirmed by any other test. The GP assay was superior to the CZ, when compared with true-positive and -negative results. The data demonstrate that the GP assay can be recommended as an alternative diagnostic technique to the CZ for Chlamydia diagnosis.

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis by the Gen-Probe AMPLIFIED Chlamydia Trachomatis Assay (AMP CT) in Urine Specimens from Men and Women and Endocervical Specimens from Women

“…However, factors such as specimen adequacy due to collection, transport time, and storage of the sample can negatively influence the sensitivity of cell culture (1,15). Thus, new methods for diagnosis were developed, such as direct immunofluorescence, enzyme immunoassays, and DNA probe techniques (2,12,13,18,(20)(21)(22), for use in clinical practice. However, despite the advantages of these assay systems, including ease of transport and lower cost than cell culture, the numbers of infectious organisms in clinical samples were frequently too few to be detected by either culture or antigen or DNA probe assays.…”

Performance characteristics of the Gen-Probe Probe Competition Assay used as a supplementary test for the Gen-Probe PACE 2 and 2C assays for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis

“…Nucleic acid probe assays have been shown to be effective tools for screening for Chlamydia trachomatis (1,(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Numerous reports have demonstrated that this method is as sensitive as enzyme immunoassays (5)(6)(7)(8)(9) or culture (1,4). The use of the method has become widespread for testing of women in family planning settings and men and women seen at sexually transmitted disease clinics.…”