Author(s): Almeida, Carina ; Azevedo, N. F. ; Bento, Joana C. ; Cerca, Nuno ; Ramos, H. ; Vieira, M. J. ; Keevil, C. W.
Date: 2013
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/24934
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Project/scholarship: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5646-ICCMS/82815/PT ;
Subject(s): Science & Technology
We developed a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method for the rapid detection of Proteus spp. in urine, using a novel peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probe. Testing on 137 urine samples from patients with urinary tract infections has shown specificity and sensitivity values of 98 % (95 % CI, 93.2–99.7) and 100 % (95 % CI, 80,8–100), respectively, when compared with CHROMagar Orientation medium. Results indicate that PNA-FISH is a reliable alternative to traditional culture methods and can reduce the diagnosis time to approximately 2 h.
We would like to thank Cristina Silva for providing us the urine samples. This work was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Postdoctoral Fellowship SFRH/BPD/74480/2010 and project PIC/IC/82815/2007) and by the European Commission's Framework Programme (FP7: "COST-Action TD1004: Theragnostics for imaging and therapy").
