Clinical Application of Multiplex PCR Assay for the Diagnosis of the Etiology of Genital Ulcer Disease Among Patients Attending STD Clinics in Guangzhou, China

Objectives: To develop a method of simultaneous PCRdetection of Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, andHerpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2 from genital ulcersamong patients attending STD clinics in Guangzhou, China;and evaluate the clinical application of multiplex PCR (M-PCR) assay for diagnosing the etiology of genital ulcerdiseases (GUD). Methods: 244 patients with a genital ulcer were evaluated.Clinical etiology of GUD was based on physical appearanceand microbiologic evaluations that included dark fieldmicroscopy examination (D-F) and serology test for syphilis(STS). Swabs of each genital ulcer were tested for HSVantigen by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and processed in anM-PCR assay for simultaneous detection of T. pallidum, HSVand H. ducreyi. Results: The standard strains of T. pallidum, HSV and H.ducreyi were amplified by M-PCR, producing amplifiedproducts of 260bp,432bp,170bp, respectively. The sensitivityof M-PCR is 102pg DNA. M-PCR assay for T. pallidum, HSVand H. ducreyi showed good agreement when compared withD-F detection for T. pallidum, STS, H. ducreyi culture and EIAfor HSV antigen (Kappa scores are 0.774,0.704,0.793,0.756,respectively). Conclusions: The M-PCR is a convenient, accurate andreliable assay for the detection of T. pallidum, HSV and H.ducreyi from genital ulcers, and can be used as a method of diagnosing the etiology of GUD.