Detection of pathogens causing genital ulcer disease by multiplex polymerase chain reaction

To establish a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay for simultaneous detection of pathogens causing genital ulcer disease (GUD).

Based on the gene-specific region of the following pathogens: Chlamydia trachomatis omp1/ompb, herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA polymerase, Treponema pallidum tpp47, Haemophilus ducreyi 16s rRNA, four sets of primers were designed and an M-PCR assay was developed to detect four pathogens in one test. The assay was evaluated with diagnostic result of golden standard for each pathogen.

Of the 51 clinical samples, M-PCR showed slightly higher positive rate (47.1%) of HSV than cell culture (23.6%). Meanwhile, the positive rate of T. pallidum detected by M-PCR and dark-field microscopy was 19.6% (10/51) and 15.7% (8/51), respectively. Only one sample was positive for H. ducreyi and no sample was positive for C. trachomatis detected by both M-PCR assay and culture.

This primary study indicated that M-PCR assay can simultaneously and rapidly detect the four etiologic pathogens causing GUD.