ArticleMemorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz2014
Submicroscopic malaria parasite carriage: how reproducible are polymerase chain reaction-based methods?
Article in Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Improving the Molecular Diagnosis of Malaria: Droplet Digital PCR-Based Method Using Saliva as a DNA Source.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Asymptomatic Plasmodium vivax malaria in the Brazilian Amazon: Submicroscopic parasitemic blood infects Nyssorhynchus darlingi.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Towards the use of a smartphone imaging-based tool for point-of-care detection of asymptomatic low-density malaria parasitaemia.Malaria journal · 2021Article
- Article
- Ribosomal and non-ribosomal PCR targets for the detection of low-density and mixed malaria infections.Malaria journal · 2019Article
- Analytical validation of real-time quantitative PCR assays for optimum diagnosis of vivax malaria.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2019Article
- Risk of transfusion-transmitted malaria: evaluation of commercial ELISA kits for the detection of anti-Plasmodium antibodies in candidate blood donors.Malaria journal · 2019Article
- Microbial Groundwater Quality Status of Hand-Dug Wells and Boreholes in the Dodowa Area of Ghana.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Asymptomatic infections in blood donors harbouring Plasmodium: an invisible risk detected by molecular and serological tools.Blood transfusion = Trasfusione del sangue · 2018Article
- Blood-stage Plasmodium vivax antibody dynamics in a low transmission setting: A nine year follow-up study in the Amazon region.PloS one · 2018Article
- New potential Plasmodium brasilianum hosts: tamarin and marmoset monkeys (family Callitrichidae).Malaria journal · 2017Article
- Article
- Evaluation of the Illumigene Malaria LAMP: A Robust Molecular Diagnostic Tool for Malaria Parasites.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Human malaria diagnosis using a single-step direct-PCR based on the Plasmodium cytochrome oxidase III gene.Malaria journal · 2016Article
- Use of Malachite Green-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Detection of Plasmodium spp. Parasites.PloS one · 2016Article
- Still Searching for a Suitable Molecular Test to Detect Hidden Plasmodium Infection: A Proposal for Blood Donor Screening in Brazil.PloS one · 2016Article
- Characterising temporal trends in asymptomatic Plasmodium infections and transporter polymorphisms during transition from high to low transmission in Zanzibar, 2005-2013.Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases · 2015Article
- Field deployment of loop-mediated isothermal amplification for centralized mass-screening of asymptomatic malaria in Zanzibar: a pre-elimination setting.Malaria journal · 2015Article
- Article
- External quality assurance of malaria nucleic acid testing for clinical trials and eradication surveillance.PloS one · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for the diagnosis of malaria infection are expected to accurately identify submicroscopic parasite carriers. Although a significant number of PCR protocols have been described, few studies have addressed the performance of PCR amplification in cases of field samples with submicroscopic malaria infection. Here, the reproducibility of two well-established PCR protocols (nested-PCR and real-time PCR for the Plasmodium 18 small subunit rRNA gene) were evaluated in a panel of 34 blood field samples from individuals that are potential reservoirs of malaria infection, but were negative for malaria by optical microscopy. Regardless of the PCR protocol, a large variation between the PCR replicates was observed, leading to alternating positive and negative results in 38% (13 out of 34) of the samples. These findings were quite different from those obtained from the microscopy-positive patients or the unexposed individuals; the diagnosis of these individuals could be confirmed based on the high reproducibility and specificity of the PCR-based protocols. The limitation of PCR amplification was restricted to the field samples with very low levels of parasitaemia because titrations of the DNA templates were able to detect < 3 parasites/µL in the blood. In conclusion, conventional PCR protocols require careful interpretation in cases of submicroscopic malaria infection, as inconsistent and false-negative results can occur.
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