Comparative evaluation of two Rickettsia typhi-specific quantitative real-time PCRs for research and diagnostic purposes

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• 作者：Stefanie Papp ; Jessica Rauch ; Svenja Kuehl…
• 关键词：R. typhi ; Endemic typhus ; Quantification ; qPCR ; Differential diagnosis
• 刊名：Medical Microbiology and Immunology
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：206
• 期：1
• 页码：41-51
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Medical Microbiology; Immunology;
• 出版者：Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• ISSN：1432-1831
• 卷排序：206

文摘

Rickettsioses are caused by intracellular bacteria of the family of Rickettsiaceae. Rickettsia (R.) typhi is the causative agent of endemic typhus. The disease occurs worldwide and is one of the most prevalent rickettsioses. Rickettsial diseases, however, are generally underdiagnosed which is mainly due to the lack of sensitive and specific methods. In addition, methods for quantitative detection of the bacteria for research purposes are rare. We established two qPCRs for the detection of R. typhi by amplification of the outer membrane protein B (ompB) and parvulin-type PPIase (prsA) genes. Both qPCRs are specific and exclusively recognize R. typhi but no other rickettsiae including the closest relative, R. prowazekii. The prsA-based qPCR revealed to be much more sensitive than the amplification of ompB and provided highly reproducible results in the detection of R. typhi in organs of infected mice. Furthermore, as a nested PCR the prsA qPCR was applicable for the detection of R. typhi in human blood samples. Collectively, the prsA-based qPCR represents a reliable method for the quantitative detection of R. typhi for research purposes and is a promising candidate for differential diagnosis.