Use of universal polymerase chain reaction assay and endonuclease digestion for rapid detection of Neisseria meningitides

Hung-Wei Lin¹, Jiu-Haw Yin¹, Jenn-Pyng Lo¹, Yi-Hui Wang², Shih-Yi Lee², Jang-Jih Lu^2
1Department of Medicine, Armed Forces Tao-Yuan General Hospital, Taipei; and ²Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center,Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

Received: January 7, 2004 Revised: March 31, 2004 Accepted: June 30, 2004

Corresponding author: Dr. Jang-Jih Lu, Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical College, No. 325, Section 2, Chengkung Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 114, ROC.E-mail:

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis worldwide, especially in children. Early diagnosis and empiric antibiotic treatment have led to a reduction in morbidity and mortality. The value of the traditional gold standard diagnostic tests, blood culture and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture, has been adversely affected by preadmission use of parenteral penicillin and fewer lumbar punctures. We report a case of N. meningitidis in a 19-year-old male who was admitted after suffering from progressive severe headache, and intermittent high fever for 2 days. Gram stain and culture of CSF, and culture of throat swab were negative. However, N. meningitidis was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a universal primer set and endonuclease digestion. This report indicated that the PCR method may be an alternative method for the rapid diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis.

Key words: DNA primers, DNA restriction enzymes, meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, polymerase chain reaction

J Microbiol Immunol Infect 2004;37:371-374.