Journal: Journal of Microbiological Methods (Elsevier)

Title: Evaluation of the GeneFields® EHEC/SS PCR dipstick DNA chromatography kit for the detection of enteric bacterial pathogens in stool specimens of healthy humans.

Authors: Hiroki Maruoka, Atsushi Hinenoya, Noritomo Yasuda, Atsuyoshi Takeda, Shin Inoue, Tomoko Sumi, Kazuaki Koitabashi, Hiroshi Yasue, Kazuhiko Kogou and Shinji Yamasaki*

Abstract:  We developed a new GeneFields® EHEC/SS PCR dipstick DNA chromatography kit for the simultaneously detection of invA, ipaH, and stx genes in Salmonella enterica (56 strains), Shigella spp. (44), and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) (28), respectively and other bacteria (57), and evaluated the sensitivity and specificity by this kit. The sensitivity and specificity were 100%, respectively. The detection limit of various methods was determined using 5% (w/v) stool suspensions spiked with each bacterium. The detection limit of the GeneFields® EHEC/SS kit ranged from approximately 10²-10³ CFU/g. Additionally, the relative sensitivities and specificities of the GeneFields® EHEC/SS kit vs two commercially available real-time PCR kits were >85.0% and >90.0%, respectively. These results indicate that the GeneFields® EHEC/SS kit can be used for genetic screening of S. enterica, Shigella spp., and EHEC in human stool specimens with sensitivities and specificities similar to those of the commercially available real-time PCR kits.