Background: Several nucleic acid amplification techniques (IS6110, 16S rRNA, and 85B mRNA) were developed for the rapid, direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of 85B mRNA-based RT-qPCR by comparing with the real-time PCR COBAS TagMan MTB Kit while using the BACTEC MGIT 960 method as the gold standard. Methods: 60 patients with confirmed pulmonary TB and 60 individuals without TB were included as the study and control groups, respectively. Sputum specimens were cultured using LJ and BACTEC MGIT 960 systems. Extracted DNA was used for COBAS PCR in a CONAS TagMan 48 analyzer. 85B mRNA detection was performed by RT-qPCR. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of COBAS TagMan MTB Test were detected as 93.3%, 83.3%, 84.8%, 92.6%, and 88.3%, respectively. The same diagnostic parameters of RT-qPCR were: 98.3%, 95.0%, 95.2%, 98.3%, and 96.7%, respectively. According to the binary logistic regression analysis, RT-qPCR (OR: 19,924, p < 0.001) was identified as the more optimal test. Conclusion: RT-qPCR targeting the 85B gene of M. tuberculosis seems to be a more useful and rapid technique than DNA-based methods for detecting live M. tuberculosis bacilli from sputum specimens. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Limited on behalf of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences.

Geographic variation in the frequency of various gastroduodenal pathologies were shown to be related to the geographical diversity of H. pylori CagA Glu-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Ala (EPIYA) patterns. We examined the EPIYA patterns of H. pylori and the association of EPIYA patterns with gastric cancer (GC) for the first time in Turkey. Patient group (PG) contained 60 patients [38 GC and 22 duodenal ulcer (DU) patients]. Control group (CG) was 110 individuals [94 gastritis patients and 16 persons with normal gastrointestinal system (NGIS)]. Specific primers were used for the detection of cagA including empty-site-positive and EPIYA-A,-B,-C,-D PCR. Bands of EPIYA-A,-B,-C were confirmed by DNA sequencing. One hundred and forty two (83.5 %) strains [60 PG (38 GC, 22 DU), 82 CG (72 gastritis,10 NGIS)] were positive for cagA gene. The EPIYA-C with multiple repeats was detected in 34 (23.9 %) strains, and 22 (64.7 %) were from GC patients. EPIYA-C with one repeat was detected in 89 (62.7 %) strains and 54 (60.7 %) were from gastritis patients. EPIYT was detected in 10 strains, and EPIYA-D was not detected. The number of EPIYA-C with multiple repeats was significantly higher for PG than CG (p<0.0001). In GC patients, the number of EPIYA-C with multiple repeats was significantly higher than one repeat (p<0.0001). In conclusion, our study showed that multiple EPIYA-C repeats increased the GC risk 30.6-fold and the DU risk by 8.9-fold versus CG. This indicated that Western-type H. pylori strains in Turkey have similar EPIYA motifs as neighbouring countries and Western populations.