AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 81(5), 2009, pp. 754-757
doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0274;
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bharti, A. R.
Right arrow Articles by Smith, D. M.
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Bharti, A. R.
Right arrow Articles by Smith, D. M.

SHORT REPORT


Malaria Diagnosis by a Polymerase Chain Reaction–Based Assay Using a Pooling Strategy

Ajay R. Bharti*, Scott L. Letendre, Kailash P. Patra, Joseph M. Vinetz, AND Davey M. Smith
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California; Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California

 

ABSTRACT

Pooling clinical specimens reduces the number of assays needed when screening for infectious diseases. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays are the most sensitive tests to diagnose malaria, but its high cost limits its use. We adapted a pooling platform that could reduce the number of assays needed to detect malaria infection. To evaluate this platform, two sets of 100 serum samples, with 1% and 5% malaria prevalence, were tested. DNA, extracted from pooled samples, was amplified by malaria-specific PCR. Additional validation was performed by determining the level of PCR detection based on 1:10 and 1:100 dilution. The platform correctly detected all malaria samples in the two test matrices. The use of stored serum samples also has important implications for studies investigating malaria prevalence rates retrospectively. Field studies, using serum and whole blood specimens, are needed to validate this technique for the adaptation of these methods for clinical utility.

Received May 22, 2009. Accepted for publication July 27, 2009.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank the patients from the city of Iquitos and the surrounding villages for their participation and our field staff for their assistance.

Financial support: A.R.B. is supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R25 MH81482 and the REACH (Research and Education in HIV/AIDS for Resource-Poor Countries) Initiative of Tibotec; J.M.V. is supported by a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Innovations in Clinical Research Program grant, NIH/NIAID Grant K24AI068903, and NIH Fogarty International Center Global Infectious Diseases Training Grant 5D43TW007120; D.M.S. is supported by National Institutes of Health Grants MH083552, AI077304, AI69432, AI38858, AI43638, AI43752, AI29164, AI47745, MH625N12, AI047745, and AI57167 and the UCSD Center for AIDS Research (AI36214); and the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC) is supported by Center Award P30 MH62512 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

* Address correspondence to Ajay R. Bharti, University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, 0847, La Jolla, CA 92093-0847. E-mail: abharti{at}ucsd.edu

Authors’ addresses: Ajay R. Bharti, Scott L. Letendre, Kailash P. Patra, and Joseph M. Vinetz, University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, 0847, La Jolla, CA 92093-0847. Davey M. Smith, Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.