Abstract
A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of a 150-bp tandem repeat of Onchocerca volvulus (0-150) combined with Southern-blot hybridization to species-specific DNA probes was employed for DNA detection. O-150 was amplified from parasites originating from Uganda, Benin, Cameroon, Liberia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Zaire and was successfully hybridized to digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotides. To investigate the sensitivity of the PCR, 2 skin biopsies were taken from each of 227 persons from Uganda with proven O. volvulus infections but with low microfilaria (mf) densities due to iver-mectin treatment. One biopsy was tested by PCR and the other was digested using collagenase to assess the total number of mf. The PCR revealed 76.2% of the samples to be positive, and the collagenase method showed that 78.9% were positive, indicating similar sensitivity for the two methods. It is probable that for both techniques the biopsy must contain at least one live mf or fragments of a dead mf. In this study, no free or circulating O. volvulus DNA could be detected in skin biopsies by PCR.
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Fischer, P., Büttner, D.W., Rubaale, T. et al. Sensitivity of a polymerase chain reaction-based assay to detect Onchocerca volvulus DNA in skin biopsies. Parasitol Res 82, 395–401 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004360050135
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004360050135