TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kann, Simone
A1  - Kunz, Meik
A1  - Hansen, Jessica
A1  - Sievertsen, Jürgen
A1  - Crespo, Jose J.
A1  - Loperena, Aristides
A1  - Arriens, Sandra
A1  - Dandekar, Thomas
T1  - Chagas disease: detection of Trypanosoma cruzi by a new, high-specific real time PCR
JF  - Journal of Clinical Medicine
N2  - Background: Chagas disease (CD) is a major burden in Latin America, expanding also to non-endemic countries. A gold standard to detect the CD causing pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi is currently not available. Existing real time polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs) lack sensitivity and/or specificity. We present a new, highly specific RT-PCR for the diagnosis and monitoring of CD. Material and Methods: We analyzed 352 serum samples from Indigenous people living in high endemic CD areas of Colombia using three leading RT-PCRs (k-DNA-, TCZ-, 18S rRNA-PCR), the newly developed one (NDO-PCR), a Rapid Test/enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA), and immunofluorescence. Eighty-seven PCR-products were verified by sequence analysis after plasmid vector preparation. Results: The NDO-PCR showed the highest sensitivity (92.3%), specificity (100%), and accuracy (94.3%) for T. cruzi detection in the 87 sequenced samples. Sensitivities and specificities of the kDNA-PCR were 89.2%/22.7%, 20.5%/100% for TCZ-PCR, and 1.5%/100% for the 18S rRNA-PCR. The kDNA-PCR revealed a 77.3% false positive rate, mostly due to cross-reactions with T. rangeli (NDO-PCR 0%). TCZ- and 18S rRNA-PCR showed a false negative rate of 79.5% and 98.5% (NDO-PCR 7.7%), respectively. Conclusions: The NDO-PCR demonstrated the highest specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy compared to leading PCRs. Together with serologic tests, it can be considered as a reliable tool for CD detection and can improve CD management significantly.
KW  - Chagas disease
KW  - Chagas diagnosis
KW  - Chagas monitoring
KW  - Chagas real time PCR
KW  - Trypanosoma cruzi
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-205746
SN  - 2077-0383
VL  - 9
IS  - 5
ER  -