Multiplex PCR on Leptospiral Isolates from Kolenchery, Kerala, India

Human leptospirosis causes severe multiorgan dysfunctions that may end in multiorgan failure and death. The methods in hand for diagnosis of leptospirosis like culture, ELISA and MAT only help to confirm the disease, and are of little value in early detection. The aim of this study was to find out if the two sets of primers described earlier could detect all the isolates from the area, for the purpose of using the resultant database for early detection of leptospires in future from clinical specimens. The study was done on culture isolates from Jan 2000 to June 2002 attending the department of medicine, MOSC medical college hospital, Kolenchery, Kerala, India. DNA of 45 culture isolates were amplified by multiplex PCR using two sets of previously described primers, G1, G2 and B 64-I, B 64-II. Specific amplifications of either 285 or 563 bp size were obtained from all isolates included in the study indicating the utility of the multiplex PCR in the rapid detection of leptospires in clinical samples.