Evaluation of improved IS 6110 LAMP assay for diagnosis of pulmonary and extra pulmonary tuberculosis

In the present study, IS6110 loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was modified using dUTP-UNG (uracil-DNA N-glycosylase) strategy to prevent carryover contamination, and was evaluated using clinical specimens. The clinical specimens were collected from 236 suspected patients of pulmonary tuberculosis and 315 specimens of suspected patients of extra pulmonary tuberculosis. DNA was extracted from specimens and used as template for nucleic acid amplification. The results were evaluated with culture method as gold standard. Modified IS6110 LAMP assay showed high sensitivity (94.4%) and specificity (97.2%) in specimens collected from suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Sensitivity was comparatively less (86.67%) in extra pulmonary specimens while specificity was 94.04%. In conclusion, IS6110 LAMP assay was modified to prevent carry over contamination and it was validated to be rapid, sensitive and specific method with prospective application in resource-limited settings.