       Document 0485
 DOCN  M9620485
 TI    Diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS patients by using
       polymerase chain reactions on serum specimens.
 DT    9602
 AU    Atzori C; Lu JJ; Jiang B; Bartlett MS; Orlando G; Queener SF; Smith JW;
       Cargnel A; Lee CH; II Divisione Malattie Infettive, Ospedale L. Sacco,
       Milan, Italy.
 SO    J Infect Dis. 1995 Dec;172(6):1623-6. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/96083517
 AB    A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that amplifies the internal
       transcribed spacers of rRNA genes of Pneumocystis carinii (Pc-ITS-PCR)
       was compared with dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene PCR to determine
       its usefulness in the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. All
       specimens from non-P. carinii pneumonia AIDS patients were both
       Pc-ITS-PCR- and DHFR PCR-negative. Twenty-six (96%) of 27
       bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from P. carinii pneumonia patients were
       Pc-ITS-PCR-positive, and all 27 of these patients had at least 1 serum
       sample positive by Pc-ITS-PCR. In contrast, DHFR PCR detected P. carinii
       in only 4 (17%) of 24 P. carinii-positive lavage specimens and 2 (10%)
       of the 20 sera from P. carinii pneumonia patients. These results suggest
       that serum Pc-ITS-PCR may be useful for the diagnosis of P. carinii
       pneumonia.
 DE    AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/*DIAGNOSIS  DNA, Fungal/*BLOOD
       Human  Pneumocystis carinii/*GENETICS  Pneumonia, Pneumocystis
       carinii/*DIAGNOSIS  *Polymerase Chain Reaction  RNA, Ribosomal/GENETICS
       Support, Non-U.S. Gov't  Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.  Tetrahydrofolate
       Dehydrogenase/GENETICS  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

