Kwannan Nantavisai. Comparison of the sensitivities of PCR metohds for genotyping of Giardia duodenalis . Master's Degree(Microbiology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2006.
Comparison of the sensitivities of PCR metohds for genotyping of Giardia duodenalis
Abstract:
Giardia duodenalis is a unicellular organism that infects the small intestine of
humans and a variety of other mammalian hosts. The detection of this organism is
usually based on microscopic methods following the application of fecal concentration
techniques. The development of immunofluorescence microscopy has generally
improved the sensitivity of detecting and quantitating fecal Giardia cysts compared to
conventional microscopy. However, neither traditional microscopic methods nor
immunofluorescence microscopy can discriminate between morphological identical, or
similar, organisms that are genetically different. Thus, molecular methods, particularly
PCR-based techniques, have been developed as diagnostic methods to solve this
problem. To date, several techniques for DNA extraction and PCR amplification have
been published; however, comparisons of their sensitivities have not been conducted.
An evaluation of the sensitivities of three DNA extraction methods (i.e. FTA
filter paper, QIAamp stool mini kit, and conventional phenol/chloroform method) by
using fecal specimens with known concentration of G. duodenalis cysts was
performed. FTA filter paper was the most effective method, which could detect G.
duodenalis in fecal specimens with the concentration of at least 0.6 cysts/PCR reaction
mixture. The sensitivities of 5 previously described PCR protocols, using five different
genotyping primer sets, were also compared in Giardia DNA derived from both
trophozoites and cysts. The results showed that RH11/RH4, GiarF/GiarR primer set
that amplified SSU-rRNA gene of this organism was the most sensitive primer. A
blind diagnostic test to compare PCR and immunofluorescent assay for the detection
of G. duodenalis in stool specimens was also conducted. FTA filter paper for DNA
extraction together with the PCR method using the primer set RH11/RH4,
GiarF/GiarR primer set showed 97.30% sensitivity and 100% specificity for the
detection of G. duodenalis in stool specimens, while the immunofluorescent assay
gave a sensitivity of 91.90% and a specificity of 100%. There were no statistically
significant differences (p=0.61) between these two methods.