Comparative evaluation of chlamydiazyme, PACE 2, and AMP-CT assays for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in endocervical specimens.

We conducted a comparative evaluation of the Chlamydiazyme (Abbott Laboratories), PACE 2 (Gen-Probe), and AMP-CT (Gen-Probe) assays for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in endocervical samples. Specimens from 787 females were included in the study. The sensitivities of the PACE 2 and Chlamydiazyme assays in comparison to the results of the AMP-CT assay were 79.3 and 63.4%, respectively. The specificities of the Chlamydiazyme and PACE 2 assays were 100%. All of the positive specimens detected in this study were positive by the AMP-CT assay. On the basis of the final results of the comparison, the prevalence of C. trachomatis in the population was 10.4%. Retesting of specimens whose results were in the intermediate zone by the PACE 2 assay by a probe competition assay identified some additional true-positive specimens. Amplification assay testing of such specimens did not significantly increase the yield. The majority of specimens which tested positive by the AMP-CT assay only were not in the intermediate zone by the PACE 2 assay. We were unable to identify demographic or clinical factors which could predict those individuals who tested positive by amplified tests but not by nonamplified tests. The Gen-Probe PACE 2 assay proved to be superior to the Chlamydiazyme assay for the screening and diagnosis of C. trachomatis infections in female endocervical specimens.