AUTHOR=Liang Hao , Wen Ziyu , Li Ying , Duan Yongxiang , Gu Yixin , Zhang Maojun 

TITLE=Comparison of the Filtration Culture and Multiple Real-Time PCR Examination for Campylobacter spp. From Stool Specimens in Diarrheal Patients

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02995

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.02995

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Campylobacter</italic> is one of the most common pathogens leading to the bacterial diarrheal illness. In order to set up one effective culture independent assay for the screen of the <italic>Campylobacter</italic> infection in the diarrheal patients, the quadruple real-time PCR method comparing to the culture based on the enriched filtration method which was recognized as the most effective isolation method was assessed for 190 stool samples from the diarrheal patients collected during the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network in Beijing. This multiple real-time PCR was designed to identify the <italic>Campylobacter</italic> genus, <italic>C. jejuni, C. coli</italic>, and <italic>C. lari</italic> simultaneously. With the enrichment culture method, 23 (12.1%, 23/190) <italic>Campylobacter</italic> isolates were obtained (20 <italic>C. jejuni</italic> and 3 <italic>C. coli</italic>), however, 31 samples (16.3%, 31/190) were detected positively with the real-time PCR (21 <italic>C. jejuni</italic>, 8 <italic>C. coli</italic>, and 2 <italic>Campylobacter</italic> genus only). With the comparison, the real-time-PCR method is more sensitive than the enrichment filtration method (16.3 vs. 12.1%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.021). Among the culture-positive samples, 95.7% (22/23) were detected positively by PCR which indicate the specificity of this method was higher. These two methods were consistent well (Kappa = 0.785, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). Comparing to the culture methods, the result of the multiple real-time PCR method is sensitive, reliable and rapid. The present study indicated this multiple real-time PCR can be used both for the surveillance network and the preceding screen for bacteria isolation. This is first comparative study between the culture and multiple real-time PCR method for <italic>Campylobacter</italic> identification in stool specimens from the diarrheal patients.</p>