01851nas a2200337   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653003100051653001100082653001200093653003600105653002500141653003000166653001400196653002200210100001100232700001500243700001000258700001100268700001100279700001200290700001200302700001200314700001300326245006400339856004600403300001000449490000700459520103300466022001401499       2011                            d  c201110aBacteriological Techniques10aHumans10aleprosy10aMolecular Diagnostic Techniques10aMycobacterium leprae10apolymerase chain reaction10aROC Curve10aSpecimen Handling1 aAye KS1 aMatsuoka M1 aKai M1 aKyaw K1 aWin AA1 aShwe MM1 aThein M1 aHtoo MM1 aHtoon MT00aFTA card utility for PCR detection of Mycobacterium leprae.  uhttp://www.nih.go.jp/niid/JJID/64/246.pdf  a246-80 v643 a<p>The suitability of the FTA® elute card for the collection of slit skin smear (SSS) samples for PCR detection of Mycobacterium leprae was evaluated. A total of 192 SSS leprosy samples, of bacillary index (BI) 1 to 5, were collected from patients attending two skin clinics in Myanmar and preserved using both FTA® elute cards and 70% ethanol tubes. To compare the efficacy of PCR detection of DNA from each BI class, PCR was performed to amplify an M. leprae-specific repetitive element. Of the 192 samples, 116 FTA® elute card and 112 70% ethanol samples were PCR positive for M. leprae DNA. When correlated with BI, area under the curve (AUC) values of the respective receiver-operating characteristic curves were similar for the FTA® elute card and ethanol collection methods (AUC=0.6). Taken together, our results indicate that the FTA® elute card, which enables the collection, transport, and archiving of clinical samples, is an attractive alternative to ethanol preservation for the detection of M. leprae DNA.</p>  a1884-2836