Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that has been linked to the human leukocyte antigen class I allele HLA-B27. More than 90 % of patients with ankylosing spondylitis possess the HLA-B27 allele, but only 1 % of people with HLA-B27 develop the disease. Ankylosing spondylitis predominately affects young males. The present study was planned to find out the involvement of HLA-B27 specific allele in relation to age and sex in symptomatic suspected patients of ankylosing spondylitis using conventional PCR technology. Forty symptomatic patients of ankylosing spondylitis were included in the present study. SSP-PCR technique was used to detect the HLA-B27 specific allele. This study showed (out of 40 symptomatic suspected cases of ankylosing spondylitis only 12 patients were detected positive with HLA-B27 allele, while remaining 28 were negative) that the positivity rate for ankylosing spondylitis with HLA-B27 allele is low. Furthermore, it was observed that the males above 50 years are more prone to develop AS with HLA-B27 specific allele. It could be concluded that the conventional PCR technology is a rapid, sensitive, and confirmatory method for the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis.

Genitourinary tuberculosis is a disease of the genitourinary system which includes the entire urinary tract and reproductive system. Genital tuberculosis is an important cause of female infertility, especially in developing nations like India. In the present study, a total of 257 clinical specimens comprising of endometrial biopsy (109), endometrial curetting (42), menstrual blood (8), semen (17), placenta (11) and urine (70) were collected from patients and subjected for PCR, Culture and AFB detection. The endometrial biopsy, endometrial curetting, menstrual blood, semen, placenta, urine showed 30.2, 45.2,12.5, 5.8, 27.2, 31.4 %, positivity rate for tuberculosis by PCR, 7.3, 9.5, 25.0, 0, 9, 8.5 % by culture and 1.8, 2.3, 0, 0, 0, 2.8 % respectively by AFB smear. Being a novel, rapid technique, PCR is the method of choice for rapid diagnosis and management of genitourinary tuberculosis shared with the other concerned tests. This study reveals that genital tuberculosis can occur in any age group, however, the majority of patients were from reproductive age (nearly 75 % of them were from 20-45 years of age) group.

Introduction: Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis can be seen in more than half of the patients with concurrent AIDS and tuberculosis. A high index of suspicion is necessary for timely diagnosis and prompt initiation of therapy. PCR has allowed great progress to be made in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of infections due to organisms for which culture is too insensitive and paubacillary nature of the pathogens in the specimens. Aim: Evaluation of the efficacy of dual targets; mpb-64 and Nested PCR targeting IS6110 for the detection of Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Place and Duration of Study: Done at Molecular Research Laboratory, Biochemistry Department, SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun, India, in between the duration, 2012-2013. Methodology: A total of ninety clinical specimens, which includes; 14 pus, 32 CSF, 4 ascetic fluid, 6 biopsy, 10 blood, 3 urine, 6 endometrial tissues, 6 pleural fluids, 1 endometrial curetting, and 2 synovial fluid, collected from the various departments of SMI Hospital, Patel Nagar, Dehradun. Specimens were further processed for ZN staining, PCR utilizing; mpb-64 and nested PCR (N-PCR) using IS6110 as a target for the detection of extra pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Results: Out of 90 clinical specimens processed, 29 (32.2%) came N-PCR positive and 23 (25.5%) are mpb64 TB PCR positive. When analyzed comparatively for both the molecular targets, it was seen that 20 samples came positive by both the targets i.e. IS6110 as well as mpb64 gene, but 9 specimens alone came positive only by IS6110 NTPCR, and the same came negative for mpb64 gene. 3 specimens showed positive result status for mpb64 gene by conventional assay and at the same time they were negative for IS6110 gene. Conclusion: An essential element in the management of extra pulmonary tuberculosis is the availability of rapid, sensitive and specific identification of the causative agent. The laboratory diagnosis is largely based on direct microscopy and culture for mycobacterium. Direct microscopic examination is used to detect acid-fast bacilli (AFB) & has very low sensitivity. The gold standard for isolation of mycobacterium is not only time-consuming but also has low sensitivity in case of extra pulmonary tuberculosis. TB PCR diagnostics kits must be prepared, targeting mpb-64 as well as IS6110 as a targets to avoid false results.

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