AUTHOR=Lee DoKyung , Kim Eun Jin , Kilgore Paul E. , Takahashi Hideyuki , Ohnishi Makoto , Tomono Jun , Miyamoto Shigehiko , Omagari Daisuke , Kim Dong Wook , Seki Mitsuko 

TITLE=A Novel Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay for Serogroup Identification of Neisseria meningitidis in Cerebrospinal Fluid

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01548

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2015.01548

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>We have developed a novel <italic>Neisseria meningitidis</italic> serogroup-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for six of the most common meningococcal serogroups (A, B, C, W, X, and Y). The assay was evaluated using a set of 31 meningococcal LAMP assay positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from 1574 children with suspected meningitis identified in prospective surveillance between 1998 and 2002 in Vietnam, China, and Korea. Primer specificity was validated using 15 <italic>N. meningitidis</italic> strains (including serogroups A, B, C, E, W, X, Y, and Z) and 19 non-<italic>N. meningitidis</italic> species. The <italic>N. meningitidis</italic> serogroup LAMP detected down to ten copies and 100 colony-forming units per reaction. Twenty-nine CSF had <italic>N. meningitidis</italic> serogroup identified by LAMP compared with two CSF in which <italic>N. meningitidis</italic> serogroup was identified by culture and multi-locus sequence typing. This is the first report of a serogroup-specific identification assay for <italic>N. meningitidis</italic> using the LAMP method. Our results suggest that this assay will be a rapid, sensitive, and uniquely serogroup-specific assay with potential for application in clinical laboratories and public health surveillance systems.</p>