MONDAY, Dec. 16, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- A rapid and sensitive assay requiring no special equipment can detect Chlamydia trachomatis directly from urine samples with high accuracy, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.
Katrin Krõlov, from the University of Tartu in Estonia, and colleagues describe an assay to detect C. trachomatis in urine samples using recombinase polymerase amplification of a highly conserved target within the CDS2 gene. The assay was tested on urine samples from 70 patients attending a sexual health clinic and compared with the Roche Cobas Amplicor C. trachomatis assay.
The researchers found that the test had a minimum detection limit of five to 12 pathogens and could detect pathogen directly in urine within 20 minutes. Initial analysis of the assay showed specificity of 100 percent and a sensitivity of 83 percent.
"The whole procedure is fairly simple and does not require specific machinery, making it potentially applicable in point-of-care settings," Krolov and colleagues conclude.
The study was partly funded by Selfdiagnostics OÜ, which has no commercial interest in the test. One author is an employee and board member of the company.
Abstract
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