Development of a Droplet Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction for Sensitive Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii in Respiratory Tract Specimens.

ABSTRACT: Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii is a human-specific opportunistic fungus that causes Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), a life-threatening opportunistic lung infection that affects immunocompromised patients. P. jirovecii colonization may be linked to the transmission of the infection. The detection of P. jirovecii in immunocompromised patients is thus especially important. The low fungal load and the presence of PCR inhibitors limit the usefulness of quantitative PCR (qPCR) for accurate absolute quantification of P. jirovecii in specimens. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), however, presents a methodology that allows higher sensitivity and accuracy. Here, we developed a ddPCR method for detecting P. jirovecii DNA in respiratory specimens, and evaluated it

SUBMITTER: Yi J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8727342 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature