Evaluation of a new real-time PCR assay for detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in clinical specimens

Objective: To establish and evaluate a real-time PCR assay to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M.pneumoniae) in clinical specimens.

Methods: By analysing the whole p1 gene sequence of 60 M.pneumoniae clinical isolates in Beijing of China, an optimized real-time PCR assay (MpP1) using p1 gene conserved region was designed. The specificity and sensitivity of this assay were evaluated and compared with other two reported assays (RepMp1 and Mp181) using 40 positive and 100 negative clinical specimens.

Results: The detection limit of the new assay was 8.1 fg (about 1∼3CFU) M.pneumoniae DNA. The sensitivity of MpP1, RepMp1, and Mp181 assays appeared to be 100%, 100%, and 85%, respectively.

Conclusion: MpP1 assay is suitable for the detection of M.pneumoniae in Chinese clinical specimens.