Potential clinical utility of multiple target quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) array to detect microbial pathogens in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Conclusions: Multiple target qPCR was more sensitive for detection of sputum pathogens in COPD patients than conventional culture. 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed the identity at a genus level of all bacterial targets detected by qPCR, as well as identifying bacterial OTUs that could potentially be used to distinguish between exacerbation and stable COPD disease states. Multiple target qPCR pathogen detection in the sputum of COPD patients warrants further investigation to determine how it may influence COPD clinical management. PMID: 31737352 [PubMed]
Source: Journal of Thoracic Disease - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: J Thorac Dis Source Type: research