Pettitt James, Higgs Elizabeth, Fallah Mosoka, Nason Martha, Stavale Eric, Marchand Jonathan, Reilly Cavan, Jensen Kenneth, Dighero-Kemp Bonnie, Tuznik Kaylie, Logue James, Bolay Fatorma, Hensley Lisa
Integrated Research Facility, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD, USA.
Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2017 Feb 15;215(4):547-553. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw599.
Recent studies have suggested that Ebola virus (EBOV) ribonucleic acid (RNA) potentially present in the semen of a large number of survivors of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Western Africa may contribute to sexual transmission of EVD and generate new clusters of cases in regions previously declared EVD-free. These findings drive the immediate need for a reliable, rapid, user-friendly assay for detection of EBOV RNA in semen that is deployable to multiple sites across Western Africa. In this study, we optimized the Xpert EBOV assay for semen samples by adding dithiothreitol. Compared to the assays currently in use in Liberia (including Ebola Zaire Target 1, major groove binder real-time-polymerase chain reaction assays, and original Xpert EBOV assay), the modified Xpert EBOV assay demonstrated greater sensitivity than the comparator assays. Thus, the modified Xpert EBOV assay is optimal for large-scale monitoring of EBOV RNA persistence in male survivors.
最近的研究表明，西非大量埃博拉病毒病（EVD）幸存者精液中可能存在的埃博拉病毒（EBOV）核糖核酸（RNA）可能会导致EVD的性传播，并在先前宣布无EVD的地区产生新的病例群。这些发现促使人们迫切需要一种可靠、快速、用户友好的检测方法，用于检测精液中的EBOV RNA，该方法可部署到西非的多个地点。在本研究中，我们通过添加二硫苏糖醇优化了针对精液样本的Xpert EBOV检测方法。与利比里亚目前使用的检测方法（包括埃博拉扎伊尔目标1、大沟结合剂实时聚合酶链反应检测方法和原始Xpert EBOV检测方法）相比，改良后的Xpert EBOV检测方法显示出比对照检测方法更高的灵敏度。因此，改良后的Xpert EBOV检测方法最适合对男性幸存者中EBOV RNA持续存在情况进行大规模监测。
