| Abstract |
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. It is challenging to find
methods of diagnosis of active pulmonary TB that are sensitive enough to detect cases for proper
treatment before unintentional transmission. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is a highly sensitive
method to detect genetic material of pathogens, but it has rarely been used for diagnosis of TB. This
study compared the sensitivity of ddPCR with that of GeneXpert and AFB smear microscopy in 180
leftover sputum samples from patients suspected of having TB on the basis of clinical symptoms and
radiography. Absolute quantification of copy numbers of MTB-specific genes was possible using
ddPCR targeting the mpt64 gene. Among the 180 samples, 41.1% were diagnosed as having TB using
ddPCR. The sensitivities of AFB smear microscopy, GeneXpert and ddPCR were 41.9%, 82.4% and
100%, respectively. AFB smear microscopy and GeneXpert both had a specificity of 100%, and the
specificity of ddPCR was 95.3%. The accuracy of ddPCR (97.2%) is higher than that of GeneXpert
(92.7%). This robust ddPCR system could potentially be used as a method for early diagnosis of TB. |
Publication
Journal Publication
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