利用即時定量聚合酶連鎖反應檢測肺囊蟲

Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii by Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction

肺囊蟲是造成危及免疫功能低下患者生命的肺炎常見原因。因肺囊蟲無法培養，不能利用培養進行診斷，目前臨床上用來鑑別肺囊蟲的黃金標準是利用痰液或支氣管沖洗液檢體進行染色的顯微鏡檢查，但染色方式直接觀察臨床檢體敏感度不佳。使用分子生物技術檢測臨床檢體中的肺囊蟲DNA是肺囊蟲肺炎臨床診斷的重要進展，因此本研究利用文獻設計之引子及螢光探針以即時定量聚合酶連鎖反應檢測肺囊蟲DNA，建立微生物臨床診斷參考工具，以提供臨床醫師診斷的參考依據。

Pneumocystis jirovecii is a common cause of life-threatening respiratory tract infection in immunocompromised patients. Because Pneumocystis jirovecii can not be cultured by convention clinical microbiologic methods, laboratory diagnosis in clinical setting is very limited. Currently, the gold standard to identify Pneumocystis jirovecii in clinical practice is microscopic examination for sputum or bronchial lavage specimens, but the sensitivity is poor. Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii DNA in clinical specimens using molecular technology is an important advance aiding the clinical diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. In this study, we used real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) to detect Pneumocystis jirovecii, in respiratory specimens and compared the results to conventional microbial methods. PCR-based method could be a valuable supplement in the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection.