Comparison of a Lateral-Flow Immunochromatography Assay with Real-Time Reverse Transcription-PCR for Detection of Human Metapneumovirus

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2008-03, Vol.46 (3), p.928-932
• Main Authors: Kikuta, Hideaki, Sakata, Chikako, Gamo, Reiko, Ishizaka, Akihito, Koga, Yasutsugu, Konno, Mutsuko, Ogasawara, Yoshinori, Sawada, Hiroyuki, Taguchi, Yuichi, Takahashi, Yutaka, Yasuda, Kazue, Ishiguro, Nobuhisa, Hayashi, Akio, Ishiko, Hiroaki, Kobayashi, Kunihiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies, Monoclonal; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Chromatography - methods; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human metapneumovirus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infant; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Metapneumovirus - genetics; Metapneumovirus - immunology; Metapneumovirus - isolation & purification; Microbiology; Nasopharynx - virology; Nucleocapsid Proteins - immunology; Paramyxoviridae Infections - diagnosis; Paramyxoviridae Infections - virology; Respiratory Tract Infections - diagnosis; Respiratory Tract Infections - virology; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Sensitivity and Specificity; Techniques used in virology; Time Factors; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases; Virology
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X; 1098-5530
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01888-07

A lateral-flow immunochromatography (IC) assay for the detection of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been developed by using two mouse monoclonal antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein of hMPV. The purpose of this study was to compare the virus detection rate in nasopharyngeal secretions by the IC assay with that by real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). We collected nasopharyngeal swab samples from 247 children with respiratory symptoms in Sapporo, Japan, during the period from April to July 2007. Sixty-eight of the 247 children were positive for hMPV by real-time RT-PCR. When the real-time RT-PCR was used as the reference standard, the IC assay results were positive for 48 of the 68 real-time RT-PCR-positive children (70.6% sensitivity) and 8 of the 179 real-time RT-PCR-negative children (95.5% specificity). Although the sensitivity of the IC assay is lower than that of real-time RT-PCR, the IC assay is a rapid and useful test for the diagnosis of hMPV infections in children.