Comparative evaluation of the sensitivity of LAMP, PCR and in vitro culture methods for the diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis.

Abstract??The sensitivity of LAMP, PCR and in vitro culture methods for the detection ofTheileria equiandBabesia caballiwas evaluated using tenfold serially diluted culture parasites. On day?1 post-culture, bothT. equiandB. caballiparasites could only be observed at 1% parasite dilution from the in vitro culture method, whereas LAMP could detect up to 1???10^?3% of bothT. equiandB. caballiparasite dilutions, whilst PCR could detect 1???10^?3%T. equiand 1???10^?1%B. caballiparasite dilutions. On day?7 post-culture, the detection limit forT. equiandB. caballiin the in vitro culture increased up to 1???10^?6%, whereas LAMP detection limit increased to 1???10^?10% for both parasites, whilst the PCR detection limit increased to 1???10^?10% and 1???10^?6% forT. equiandB. caballi, respectively. Furthermore, LAMP and PCR amplified theT. equiDNA extracted from the organs of an experimentally infected horse. This study further validates LAMP as an alternative molecular diagnostic tool, which can be used in the diagnosis of early infections of equine piroplasmosis and together with PCR can also be used as supplementary methods during post-mortems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]