Evaluation of chlamydiazyme for the detection of genital infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis.

Chlamydiazyme is a 4-h enzyme-linked immunoassay that detects an antigen of Chlamydia trachomatis directly in clinical specimens. This immunoassay was compared with cell culture for the diagnosis of chlamydial infections of the genital tract. The assay was evaluated at five clinics with a total of 1,277 cervical specimens of which 239 were culture positive. At three of these clinics where urethral samples were taken from males, 99 of 363 samples were culture positive. The sensitivity of the assay averaged 89.5% for detecting cervical infections and 78.8% for detecting male urethral infections. Specificity was 97.0% when samples from either males or females were tested. Some patients who were culture negative were infected with chlamydiae according to both Chlamydiazyme and a monoclonal antibody test that detected a chlamydial antigen distinct from the antigen detected by Chlamydiazyme. If the 15 females and 2 males who were positive by both immunoassays but culture negative were considered positive for chlamydial infection, the specificity of the assay was 98.4% in females and 97.7% in males. Chlamydiazyme is a simple and relatively rapid immunoassay that has sufficient sensitivity and specificity to supplant culture in the detection of genital chlamydial infections.