A novel approach for tuberculosis diagnosis using exosomal DNA and droplet digital PCR

The rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is important for patient treatment and infection control. Current molecular diagnostic techniques for TB have insufficient sensitivity to detect samples with low bacterial loads. The sensitivity of molecular testing depends on not only performance of assay technique but also nucleic acid extraction method. Here, researchers from the Yonsei University College of Medicine present a novel approach using exosomal DNA (exoDNA) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) platform to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in clinical samples.

The ddPCR platform targeting IS6110 was evaluated in parallel using total DNA and exoDNA. The clinical performance of ddPCR method was assessed with 190 respiratory samples from patients with suspected pulmonary TB.

This platform using ddPCR and exoDNA has the potential to provide sensitive and accurate methodology for TB diagnosis.