Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis Antigens by Enzyme Immunoassay and Immunofluorescence in Genital Specimens from Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Men and Women

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis antigens were detected in populations with the following infection prevalences: 26.5% (36 of 136) of men and 27.7% (48 of 173) of women attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic, 16.3% (53 of 324) of women attending a Planned Parenthood clinic, and 3.4% (4 of 117) of an obstetrics and gynecologic practice. Compared with cell culture of the combined female cervical specimens (15.8% prevalence), the respective sensitivities of Chlamydiazyme (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois) and Microtrak (Syva, Palo Alto, California) were 98.3% and 87.9%, specificities were 97.5% and 98.4%, positive predictive values were 87.7% and 92.7%, and negative predictive values were 99.7% and 97.5%. Both assays were 70.0% sensitive with male urethral specimens, and the other parameters of performance ranged between 84.0% and 97.2%. The antigen detection assays, compared with culture, performed equally well in subjects without or with clinical signs.

To Study Incidence of Chlamydial Genital Tract Infections Using Enzyme Immuno Assay-Antigen Detection and Cell Culture Methods

“…In this study the prevalence rate was 15.2% among the target patients using EIA for antigen detec- tion. This result is comparable with the work done by Gilanfer et al [12] and Chernesky et a) [13]. The other workers like Mohaney et al [10], have shown higher prevalence rate.…”

Laboratory diagnosis of human chlamydial infections

“…In addition, studies comparing the performances of these detection methods have frequently failed to consider biases that may occur due to the method of sample collection. The sensitivity of DFA testing reported in studies of women has ranged from 70 to 100% (6,27,92,96,134,140) (Tables 2 and 3); higher sensitivities generally have been reported in studies that used lower numbers of EBs as the cutoff number for reporting a positive test result. With a few exceptions (82,90,96), the specificity of DFA testing has been >95% for specimens from both males and females.…”

“…Although the high cost of chlamydial cell culture has been cited as a reason to use alternative test methods, cell culture when performed in quantity is competitive in cost with newer, nonculture methods (6,27).…”

Evaluation of Gen-Probe APTIMA-Based Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis Confirmatory Testing in a Metropolitan Setting of High Disease Prevalence

“…Deficiencies in culture and antigen detection assay sensitivities (6,13,17,21,32), as well as result reproducibility (18,24), have, in part, characterized past problems with laboratory testing for Chlamydia trachomatis. The sensitivities of culture assays for the fastidious pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae can be affected by the specimen collection device used (14), the viability of organisms in certain transport systems (27), and the various selective media used (33).…”