Comparison of microscopy, culture and in-house PCR and NASBA assays for diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Russia

• This study aimed to assess the laboratory diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in St. Petersburg, Russia. In total, 334 consecutive symptomatic patients were enrolled. Cervical and urethral specimens from women (nΩ286) and urethral specimens from men (nΩ48) were analyzed by microscopy, culture and two in-house NAATs, i.e. polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), developed in Russia. All N. gonorrhoeae-positive samples were confirmed using porA pseudogene and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. All methods displayed 100% specificity, i.e. positive predictive values of 100%. Compared to the PCR (most sensitive method in the present study), in women the sensitivity of both microscopy and culture was 31.8%, and that of NASBA was 90.9%. In men, microscopy, culture and NASBA displayed a sensitivity of 75%, 50% and 100%, respectively. The negative predictive values of microscopy, culture, and NASBA were 97.3%, 97.3%, and 99.6% in women, and 97.8%, 95.7%, and 100% in men, respectively. According to the PCR, the prevalences of N. gonorrhoeae were 4.5% (women) and 8.3% (men). In conclusion, both the investigated Russian NAATs displayed a high sensitivity and specificity. However, in general the diagnosis of gonorrhoea in Russia is suboptimal and crucially requires validation, improvements and quality assurance.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Infektionsmedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Infectious Medicine (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

DNA; Bacterial/chemistry/genetics

Female

Gonorrhea/diagnosis/epidemiology/*microbiology

Humans

Incidence

Male

Neisseria gonorrhoeae/genetics/*isolation & purification

Polymerase Chain Reaction

Predictive Value of Tests

RNA; Ribosomal; 16S/chemistry/genetics

Russia/epidemiology

Self-Sustained Sequence Replication

Sensitivity and Specificity

Urethral Diseases/diagnosis/epidemiology/*microbiology

Uterine Cervical Diseases/diagnosis/epidemiology/*microbiology

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

Infectious diseases

Infektionssjukdomar

Infektionssjukdomar

Infectious Diseases

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)