Real Time Quantitative PCR Assay for Pneumocystis jirovecii Detection

Pneumocystis jirovecii remains the one of the most common cause of pneumonia (PcP) in immunocompromised patients particularly among AIDS patients. Diagnosis is based on Pneumocystis jirovecii morphologic forms observed with conventional stains (such as Giemsa and Toluidine Blue O) and by direct immunofluorecence assay of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) or induced sputum specimens. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been shown to be more sensitive for detecting P. jirovecii in different types of respiratory samples such as induced sputum and oral washing [3]. We here evaluated the efficacy of a real-time PCR assay combined with fluorescent TaqMan technology (ABI Prism 7700) for detecting and quantifying P. jirovecii DNA in respiratory specimens.