Diagnosis of chlamydia with PCR is the most sensitive and specific method of all used in laboratories at the present time. The sensitivity of the method is 95-97%, and the specificity is 95-98%.
Mycoplasmas are classified as conditionally pathogenic microorganisms. They persist and parasitize on membranes of epithelial cells and can be localized both extra- and intracellularly.
PCR allows to determine the presence of the DNA of gonococci directly and quantitatively express their concentration in the test material. The investigated material can be sputum, lavage fluid, urine, punctata from various organs and cysts, etc.
The diagnostic sensitivity of PCR for detecting Helicobacter pylori in biopsy specimens of the gastric mucosa is 88-95.4%, specificity is 100%; in coprofiltrates - 61.4-93.7% and 100%, respectively.
In contrast to serological methods for diagnosing tuberculosis infection, detecting antibodies to mycobacteria of tuberculosis, PCR makes it possible to directly detect the DNA of mycobacterium tuberculosis and quantitatively express their concentration in the test material.
Recently for the diagnosis of herpetic infection, the detection of DNA of HSV 1 and 2 in the material of vesicles and ulcers of the skin or mucous membranes (including the conjunctiva of the eyes) using the PCR method (very sensitive, specific and rapid diagnostic method) is used to diagnose herpetic infection.
Direct quantitation of HIV RNA by PCR allows more accurate prediction of the rate of disease development in people infected with HIV, more accurately than CD4 + cell count, and therefore more accurately assess their survival. The high content of virus particles usually correlates with a pronounced impairment of the immune status and a low content of CD4 + cells.
Approximately 5-10% of cases of cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases are caused by chronic viral hepatitis B. The markers of the activity of such diseases are HBeAg and DNA of the virus in serum.
