Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) was applied in combination with a fluorescein-conjugated molecular beacon specific for a sequence flanked by transcript-specific primers in order to monitor hblC enterotoxin gene expression in real-time from milk separately contaminated with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus circulans. Maximal enterotoxin expression was n...

BACKGROUND A range of molecular amplification techniques have been developed for the diagnosis of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT); however, careful evaluation of these tests must precede implementation to ensure their high clinical accuracy. Here, we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of molecular amplification tests for HAT, the quality of articles and reasons for variation in accuracy. ...

Currently available human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA quantification assays can detect most viruses of the group M subtypes, but a substantial number are missed or not quantified reliably. Viruses of HIV-1 group O cannot be detected by any commercially available assay. We developed and evaluated a quantitative assay based on nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) techno...

Accurate quantification of multidrug resistance-1 gene (MDR1) expression in target cells would be of important therapeutic value in predicting cellular response to anticancer drugs. Because certain normal cells in peripheral blood physiologically express MDR1, increasing the sensitivity of the detection methods might result in confounding low-degree expression in tumor cells with physiologic ex...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was the rapid identification of bla KPC gene in 38 Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates with reduced susceptibility to carbapenems. The modified Hodge Test (MHT) was carried out to phenotypically determine whether resistance to carbapenems was mediated by a carbapenemase. The detection of the bla KPC gene was performed by real-time acid nucleic sequence-based...

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered paramyxovirus that is known to cause respiratory tract infections in children and immunocompromised individuals. Given the difficulties of identifying hMPV by conventional culture, molecular techniques could improve the detection of this virus in clinical specimens. In this study, we developed a real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) a...

While analyzing human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) gene expression in infected cells by RNA-specific nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), positive results were observed for HCMV RNA encoded by several viral genes immediately after the addition of the virus. UV-inactivated virus also gave a positive NASBA result without establishing active infection, suggesting that RNA was associated wi...

New methods for the detection of human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) were developed. These were based on nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) and utilised the NucliSens Basic Kit. Primers and probes were selected from the haemagglutinin neuraminidase (HN) gene of HPIV1, HPIV2 and HPIV3, and from the phosphoprotein (P) of HPIV4a and -4b. Synthetic RNA, titrated control virus stocks ...