RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Hierl, Thomas A1 Reischl, Udo A1 Lang, Peter A1 Hebart, Holger A1 Stark, Maik A1 Kyme, Pierre A1 Autenrieth, Ingo B.YR 2004 T1 Preliminary evaluation of one conventional nested and two real-time PCR assays for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii in immunocompromised patients JF Journal of Medical Microbiology, VO 53 IS 7 SP 629 OP 632 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.45566-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1473-5644, AB Toxoplasma reactivation is a serious complication in patients receiving allogenic stem cell transplantation. Real-time PCR assays allow a rapid diagnosis of toxoplasma infection; however, no comparative data are available on the performance of real-time PCR protocols under routine conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to amplify Toxoplasma gondii DNA from routine samples of allogenic stem cell recipients using two real-time PCR assays on a LightCycler, and using conventional nested PCR. Conventional nested PCR revealed T. gondii DNA in 16 samples. Only 12 of the 16 samples yielded a positive result in both real-time PCRs. The accuracy of the conventional PCR results was demonstrated by direct sequencing. Amplification and detection of the amplicon was completed in only 1 h using the real-time PCR assays. Thus, real-time PCR substantially accelerates the detection of T. gondii DNA in the majority of positive specimens; however, conventional nested PCR is required for detection of T. gondii DNA in some samples., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.45566-0