PreservCyt Transport Medium Used for the ThinPrep Pap Test Is a Suitable Medium for Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis by the COBAS Amplicor CT/NG Test: Results of a Preliminary Study and Future Implications

Abstract

The commercial COBAS Amplicor CT/NG test (Roche Diagnostic Systems, Meylan, France) is a sensitive and specific method for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis infections. This test currently consists of using a nucleic acid amplification method to detect C. trachomatis in first-void urine specimens and in endocervical swabs collected in 2-sucrose-phosphate (2SP) transport medium. We conducted a prospective study to determine whether the automated COBAS Amplicor CT/NG test can detect C. trachomatis in cervical specimens collected in PreservCyt transport medium (ThinPrep Pap Test; Cytyc Corporation, Boxborough, Mass.). PreservCyt medium is used to preserve cervical samples before the preparation of ThinPrep slides. We collected 1,000 cervical specimens from young women (age range, 15 to 25 years) during routine Pap smear tests. Only specimens with normal cytology and in which the gynecologist found no clinical evidence of urogenital infections were selected. The samples were stored in PreservCyt transport medium at 15 to 20°C. C. trachomatis was detected in 22 of the 1,000 cervical specimens that had been stored in PreservCyt. To confirm the positive samples, the test was repeated on new endocervical swab specimens collected in 2SP transport medium. Only 9 of the 22 positive patients agreed to undergo this control, but all 9 retested positive. To evaluate the influence of storage conditions on the sensitivity of the C. trachomatis PCR test, all of the positive samples were stored at 15 to 20°C in PreservCyt transport medium and were retested every 2 weeks for 6 weeks. C. trachomatis was successfully amplified from all 22 specimens for the whole 6-week period. The prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was 2.2% in our study population. These results demonstrate that PreservCyt transport medium is a suitable transport medium for detection of C. trachomatis by the COBAS Amplicor CT/NG test. The ThinPrep Pap Test may enable gynecologists to monitor for both cervical lesions and C. trachomatis infections with a single endocervical specimen.Chlamydia trachomatis infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases and represents a major public health problem (48). In women, untreated C. trachomatis infections cause cervicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease, which may lead to infertility and ectopic pregnancy, and expose newborn infants to C. trachomatis (37). In the early 1990s, molecular diagnostic methods based on nucleic acid amplification tests such as PCR, ligase chain reaction, and transcriptionmediated amplification were developed. These techniques have gradually replaced traditional techniques for detection of C. trachomatis (5,32,49). Commercial DNA amplification tests are now routinely used for diagnosis of C. trachomatis infections. Although these commercial tests are based on different nucleic acid amplification technologies, many studies have shown that nucleic acid amplification-based tests are more sensitive than culture-based tests (17,28,33,35,39,40) and that they offer the opportunity to u...

Comparison of Methods for Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae Using Commercially Available Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests and a Liquid Pap Smear Medium

“…Further research should evaluate the duration of storage, although for patient management, rapid diagnosis is of the utmost importance. Currently available testing methods can be used to detect C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae using PreservCyt (1). Further comparisons of PreservCyt with other NAAT technologies that have also been approved for urine specimens would be useful.…”

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections in North American Women by Testing SurePath Liquid-Based Pap Specimens in APTIMA Assays

“…The APTIMA COMBO 2 assay is approved for use with ThinPrep LPT specimens. A limited number of studies have been published using both amplified and nonamplified tests for C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae in liquid-based specimens and have concentrated on the use of ThinPrep samples (1,(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10); D. Fuller, T. Davis, and J. Talbott, unpublished data). Our objective was to determine the clinical utility of the APTIMA assays (Gen-Probe Incorporated) for screening women for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae during their annual Pap examination by using SurePath LPT specimens.…”

Expresión de interferón gamma en la infección por el virus del papiloma humano y por Chlamydia trachomatis en muestras cervicales

“…En la infección por VPH se encontraron 21 genotipos (6, 16, 31, 33, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 67, 71, 81, 83 y 84), de los cuales 11 son considerados de alto riesgo (16,31,33,35,39,45,51,52,56,58,59). En las pacientes con coinfección por VPH y C. trachomatis se encontraron 12 genotipos de VPH (11,16,18,51,52,53,58,59,62,71, 84 y CP6108), de los cuales 6 son considerados de alto riesgo (16,18,51,52, 58 y 59). No se encontró asociación entre la presencia de genotipos de alto riesgo y la infección por C. trachomatis ( 2 = 1,9; p = 0,2).…”

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