To examine the limitations of reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for the detection of circulating tumor cells in blood, we established a RT-PCR for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Whole blood (10(7) nucleated cells) was mixed with cells from the colon cancer cell line LS174T (concentrations ranging from 0 to 10(6) cells). RT-PCR was performed to detect CEA mRNA in blood under various conditions. He...

OBJECTIVES Listeria monocytogens, Bacillus cereus and Campylobacter jejuni are three toxin producing bacteria over the world, especially in Iran, and it is essential to find a certain, rapid procedure to identify these microorganisms. In this research, these bacteria were simultaneously detected by multiplex PCR technique in foods. MATERIALS AND METHODS The primary approval of bacterial strai...

INTRODUCTION Lymphadenopathy is the commonest form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) Clinical diagnosis of TB in lymph nodes requires aspiration of the material and isolation of mycobacteria.  Bacterial culture is the gold standard for detection of tubercle bacilli, but it is time-consuming and requires specialized safety procedures and a BSL3 laboratory. However, PCR is a rapid method which ...

Background: Hepatitis-C infection is a major problem in chronically transfused patients. We compared Interferon-α (INF-α) monotherapy with combination of INF-α and amantadine in the treatment of β-thalassemia major patients who were chronically infected with HCV.Materials and Methods: Forty six thalassemia major patients who were chronically infected with HCV were randomly divided into two grou...

BACKGROUND Traditional detection of Leishmania from ulcers involves collection of invasive specimens that cause discomfort, require technical expertise, and carry risks of invasive procedures. We compared traditional diagnostic methods with a molecular noninvasive filter paper-based method for the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis. METHODS Consecutive patients presenting to the Leishmania ...

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis (TB) causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide as one of the leading infectious diseases. In India, more than 1.8 million new cases occur every year. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of TB would improve patient care and limit its transmission. This study aimed to evaluate a dual target polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic assay to detect Mycobacterium tube...

 Objective(s):  More than 1500 registered mutations in cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene are responsible for dysfunction of an ion channel protein and a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This study was performed to investigate the frequency of a number of well-known CFTR mutations in North Eastern Iranian CF patients. Material and...

the present study aimed at detection and species-level identification of the malassezia yeasts in domestic animals and aquatic birds by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (pcr-rflp). samples were collected using tape strips and swabs from 471 animals including 97 horses, 102 cattle, 105 sheep, 20 camels, 60 dogs, 30 cats, 1 hamster, 1 squirrel, 50 aquatic birds a...

We performed dengue virus (DENV) serology and quantitative real-time pan-DENV reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) on 186 sera of 171 patients returning from the tropics. DENV loads significantly decreased with increasing times of disease and were higher in immunoglobulin M-negative samples. In the first week of disease, pan-DENV RT-PCR is the test of choice.

An improved protocol is described for using lambda exonuclease to directly sequence PCR products. It is important not to execute PCR cycles beyond the plateau of amplification. The asymmetric PCR and double-stranded DNA sequencing by a snap-cooling procedure were also performed using the same DNA samples and primers. The improved method was the most reliable and produced the best results.