Biomaterial Database

Polymerase chain reaction to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in histologic specimens. 1998

N V Salian, and J A Rish, and K D Eisenach, and M D Cave, and J H Bates

Departments of Internal Medicine, Microbiology, Pathology, and Anatomy, McClellan Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.

There is a need for rapid and sensitive detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in tissue specimens. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay for the diagnosis of tuberculosis was evaluated in 60 formalin-fixed tissue specimens, the target for the amplification being a segment of IS6110 in the M. tuberculosis chromosome. Of the 60 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens studied, 57 showed granulomatous inflammation and 53 had been cultured for mycobacteria; 10 were positive for M. tuberculosis and three were positive for other mycobacteria. Of 60 samples, 15 showed acid-fast bacilli on special staining. When done comparatively on a positive culture for M. tuberculosis, PCR for M. tuberculosis DNA in 60 tissue samples was 100% sensitive and 93% specific, having a positive predictive value of 76.9% and negative predictive value of 100%. PCR for M. tuberculosis DNA done on tissue samples was positive for 14 of 19 patients who had a clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis, negative for all six patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial infections, and negative for all 33 patients who had a diagnosis of a disease other than mycobacterial infection. When compared with the clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis, PCR for M. tuberculosis DNA in these patients' tissues was 73.6% sensitive and 100% specific, having a positive predictive value of 100% and negative predictive value of 88.6%. These data indicate that PCR amplification is useful for detecting M. tuberculosis DNA in formalin-fixed tissue specimens, and that it can be used to increase diagnostic accuracy in patients who have perplexing diagnostic problems associated with a granulomatous tissue response.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009161	Mycobacterium	A genus of gram-positive, aerobic bacteria. Most species are free-living in soil and water, but the major habitat for some is the diseased tissue of warm-blooded hosts.	Mycobacteria
D009162	Mycobacterium avium	A bacterium causing tuberculosis in domestic fowl and other birds. In pigs, it may cause localized and sometimes disseminated disease. The organism occurs occasionally in sheep and cattle. It should be distinguished from the M. avium complex, which infects primarily humans.
D009164	Mycobacterium Infections	Infections with bacteria of the genus MYCOBACTERIUM.	Infections, Mycobacterium,Infection, Mycobacterium,Mycobacterium Infection
D009169	Mycobacterium tuberculosis	A species of gram-positive, aerobic bacteria that produces TUBERCULOSIS in humans, other primates, CATTLE; DOGS; and some other animals which have contact with humans. Growth tends to be in serpentine, cordlike masses in which the bacilli show a parallel orientation.	Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv
D011237	Predictive Value of Tests	In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.	Negative Predictive Value,Positive Predictive Value,Predictive Value Of Test,Predictive Values Of Tests,Negative Predictive Values,Positive Predictive Values,Predictive Value, Negative,Predictive Value, Positive
D002876	Chromosomes, Bacterial	Structures within the nucleus of bacterial cells consisting of or containing DNA, which carry genetic information essential to the cell.	Bacterial Chromosome,Bacterial Chromosomes,Chromosome, Bacterial
D004269	DNA, Bacterial	Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.	Bacterial DNA
D004396	Coloring Agents	Chemicals and substances that impart color including soluble dyes and insoluble pigments. They are used in INKS; PAINTS; and as INDICATORS AND REAGENTS.	Coloring Agent,Dye,Dyes,Organic Pigment,Stain,Stains,Tissue Stain,Tissue Stains,Organic Pigments,Pigments, Inorganic,Agent, Coloring,Inorganic Pigments,Pigment, Organic,Pigments, Organic,Stain, Tissue,Stains, Tissue
D005404	Fixatives	Agents employed in the preparation of histologic or pathologic specimens for the purpose of maintaining the existing form and structure of all of the constituent elements. Great numbers of different agents are used; some are also decalcifying and hardening agents. They must quickly kill and coagulate living tissue.	Fixative,Pickling Agents,Agents, Pickling
D005557	Formaldehyde	A highly reactive aldehyde gas formed by oxidation or incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. In solution, it has a wide range of uses: in the manufacture of resins and textiles, as a disinfectant, and as a laboratory fixative or preservative. Formaldehyde solution (formalin) is considered a hazardous compound, and its vapor toxic. (From Reynolds, Martindale The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p717)	Formalin,Formol,Methanal,Oxomethane