1994/04/01 by M J Pallen, Mark J. Pallen, A J Hay +4 · 9 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · #Agar #Agar plate #Bacteria #Biology #Botulinum Toxin and Related Neurological Disorders #Corynebacterium diphtheriae #Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis #Diphtheria #Diphtheria toxin #Diphtheria, Corynebacterium, and Tetanus #Gene #Genetics #Intramuscular injections and effects #Microbiology #Polymerase chain reaction #Toxin #Vaccination #Virology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1136/jcp.47.4.353
openalex publication_date 1994/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
AIMS: To assess the performance of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) when used to screen rapidly large numbers of corynebacteria for toxin production; and to determine the incidence of false positive PCR results with non-toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae isolates. METHODS: Eighty seven recent British isolates of corynebacteria were assayed by PCR. All isolates were assayed from both blood and tellurite agar within a five day period. Thirty three non-toxigenic isolates of C diphtheriae from six countries were also tested by PCR and by the Elek immunodiffusion assay. RESULTS: There was complete concordance between the results of PCR and traditional methods on the recent British isolates, with one exception: an Elek positive "C ulcerans" isolate, which was PCR positive from tellurite but not from blood agar. One of the thirty three (3%) non-toxigenic isolates of C diphtheriae was PCR positive. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that PCR compares favourably with traditional methods for the detection of toxigenic corynebacteria and that it represents a powerful new tool in the diagnosis of an old disease.