Pneumocystis jirovecii colonization and its association with pulmonary diseases: a multicenter study based on a modified loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) is an opportunistic fungal pathogen and the role of its colonization in pulmonary diseases has become a popular focus in recent years. The aim of this study was to develop a modified loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) DNA amongst non-HIV patients with various pulmonary diseases and use it to examine the prevalence and assess the association of P. jirovecii colonization with clinical characteristics of these diseases. METHODS:We modified the previously reported LAMP assay for P. jirovecii by adding real-time detection. This method was used to detect P. jirovecii colonization in pulmonary samples collected from 403 non-HIV patients with various pulmonary diseases enrolled from 5 hospitals in China. We determined the prevalence of P. jirovecii colonization in 7 types of pulmonary diseases and assessed the association of P. jirovecii colonization with clinical characteristics of these diseases. RESULTS:The modified LAMP assay showed no cross-reactivity with other common pulmonary microbes and was 1000 times more sensitive than that of conventional PCR. Using the modified LAMP assay, we detected P. jirovecii colonization in 281 (69.7%) of the 403 patients enrolled. P. jirovecii colonization was more common in interstitial lung diseases than in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (84.6% vs 64.5%, P?

SUBMITTER: Xue T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7085144 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature