Trapped in keratin; a comparison of dermatophyte detection in nail, skin and hair samples directly from clinical samples using culture and real-time PCR.

Traditionally, laboratory detection and identification of dermatophytes consists of culture and microscopy which yields results within approximately 2-6 weeks. In 2007 our medical microbiological diagnostic laboratory implemented a molecular method for the detection of dermatophytes. A real-time PCR assay was developed which simultaneously detects and identifies the most prevalent dermatophytes directly in nail, skin and hair samples and has a turnaround time of less than two days. For 1437 clinical samples, received by our diagnostic laboratory, we compared the results obtained from both culture and real-time PCR. This study showed that real-time PCR significantly increased the detection rate of dermatophytes compared to culture. Furthermore, excellent concordance between culture and real-time PCR identification was achieved.

Evaluation of a shortened QIAsymphony DNA extraction protocol for stool samples using a multiplex real-time PCR for the detection of enteric pathogens.

A shortened DNA extraction protocol for the QIAsymphony SP was evaluated by quantitative and qualitative comparison of real-time PCR results of 150 co-extracted stool samples. The average ∆Cycle threshold value for positive pathogenic targets was 0.28 Ct. A consensus of 96.91%, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9880 was recorded.

Comparison of the QIAsymphony automated nucleic acid extraction and PCR setup platforms with NucliSens easyMAG and Corbett CAS-1200 liquid handling station for the detection of enteric pathogens in fecal samples.

In this study we compared the QIAsymphony Sample Preparation and Assay Setup modules (Qiagen), which provide automated nucleic acid extraction and PCR setup, to the NucliSens easyMAG (bioMérieux) and CAS-1200 liquid handling station (Corbett) for a molecular screening approach of enteric pathogens in fecal samples using multiplex real-time PCR. The relative DNA recovery of both platforms, within- and between-run reproducibility and a prospective study, including 510 clinical fecal samples, were performed. The results demonstrated that the QIAsymphony Sample Preparation and Assay Setup modules were highly reproducible and achieve equal performance, quantitative and qualitative, when compared with the NucliSens easyMAG and CAS-1200 systems for the molecular screening analysis of enteric pathogens in fecal samples.