Microsatellites (MS) are excellent genetic markers because of their prevalence in eukaryotic genomes, ease of typing by PCR and high degree of polymorphism. MS-based genetic maps of the human and mouse genomes have been constructed with average intermarker interval sizes of 1.6 cM and 0.42 cM, respectively (1,6). While these maps are essential resources for gene mapping, their resolution may no...

Achieving a rapid microbiological diagnosis is crucial for decreasing morbidity and mortality of patients with a bloodstream infection, as it leads to the administration of an appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy. Molecular methods may offer a rapid alternative to conventional microbiological diagnosis involving blood culture. In this study, the performance of a new technology that uses br...

A prospective study was performed to determine the value of direct molecular testing of whole blood for detecting the presence of culturable and unculturable bacteria and yeasts in patients with suspected bloodstream infections. A total of 464 adult and pediatric patients with positive blood cultures matched with 442 patients with negative blood cultures collected during the same period were re...

BACKGROUND Understanding nosocomial pathogen transmission is restricted by culture limitations. Novel platforms, such as PCR-based electron spray ionization-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (ESI-TOF-MS), may be useful as investigational tools. METHODS Traditional clinical microbiology (TCM) and PCR/ESI-TOF-MS were used to recover and detect microorganisms from the hands and personal protectiv...

The application of molecular diagnostic methods may improve the timeliness and accuracy with which fungi are identified. A total of 76 well-characterized reference strains of clinically relevant Candida species and 61 clinical Candida isolates were tested by repetitive sequence PCR (rep-PCR) and PCR followed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) and results compared against ...

Viruses are the leading cause of central nervous system (CNS) infections, ahead of bacteria, parasites, and fungal agents. A rapid and comprehensive virologic diagnostic testing method is needed to improve the therapeutic management of hospitalized pediatric or adult patients. In this study, we assessed the clinical performance of PCR amplification coupled with electrospray ionization-time of f...

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MS) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) are important avian pathogens and cause economic losses to the poultry industry. Molecular biology techniques are currently used for a rapid detection of these pathogens and the adoption of control measures of the diseases. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a technique for simultaneous detection of MG and MS by multiplex...

Epigenetic silencing of genes by hypermethylation of promoter sequences constitutes an important step in tumourigenesis and has equally been described as first or second hit. The hypermethylation of the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) promoter is a common event in a variety of tumours, for example in colon cancer or lung cancer. The APC protein is not only a key player in the wnt signalling pa...

multiple sclerosis (ms) is a demyelinating neuro- inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. genetic predisposition has long been suspected in the etiology of this disease. the association between mthfr polymorphisms and ms has been ivestigated in different ethnic groups. we investigated the association between mthfr c677t and a1298c missense variants and ms in 180 patients ...