You have to be registered and logged in for purchasing articles.
Abstract |
Molecular Biology Approach for Pneumocystis carinii in AIDS Patients: Clinical Utility and Implications |
|
Our object was to verify the clinical value of internal transcribed spacers (ITSs) nested PCR for non-invasive diagnosis and follow-up during Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in HIV-positive patients and to analyze P. carinii genotypes most frequently involved. We examined 630 samples (BALs, sera, PBMC and oropharyngeal samples) from 122 AIDS patients with pneumonia and 40 control samples from 20 HIV-negative subjects. Morphologically positive BALs were analyzed by type-specific oligonucleotide (TSO) hybridization to define the P. carinii genotype. Recently, we started direct sequencing of ITSs regions of rRNA genes on biological samples for definitive typing. PCR confirmed the morphological diagnosis of PCP on BALs. The sensitivity of ITSs nested PCR ranged from 57.3% on sera to 32.3% on PBMC and to 69.1% on garglings, with 100% specificity. TSO hybridization showed a single P. carinii genotype in 72.2% BALs, a coinfection in 27.8%. Sequencing 26 BALs from 25 patients we found 16 different P.carinii genotypes: Kf and Eg were the most frequently involved |
|
