Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The British Journal of Venereal Diseases logoLink to The British Journal of Venereal Diseases
. 1979 Jun;55(3):179–182. doi: 10.1136/sti.55.3.179

Rapid presumptive diagnosis of gonococcal urethritis in men by the limulus lysate test.

V A Spagna, R B Prior, R L Perkins
PMCID: PMC1045624  PMID: 466383

Abstract

In an evaluation of the limulus assay as a method for detecting endotoxin in urethral exudates, positive results of urethral samples at a 1/200 dilution were obtained from 73 out of 73 patients with culture-positive gonococcal urethritis while negative results were obtained from 26 out of 27 patients with cuture-negative urethral specimens. A specimen from one patient, which gave negative results on Gram stain and culture, gave positive results to the limulus test. The overall accuracy of the limulus test for predicting culture results was 99% (p less than 0.001). Thus, in preliminary studies of otherwise healthy men, the results of the limulus assay correlated with those of biological methods for diagnosing urethral gonorrhoea; the test may, therefore, be of use in identifying cases of nongonococcal urethritis.

Full text

PDF
179

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bowie W. R. Etiology and treatment of nongonococcal urethritis. Sex Transm Dis. 1978 Jan-Mar;5(1):27–33. doi: 10.1097/00007435-197801000-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CATTERALL R. D. Diagnosis and treatment of trichomonal urethritis in men. Br Med J. 1960 Jul 9;2(5192):113–115. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5192.113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Elin R. J., Wolff S. M. Nonspecificity of the limulus amebocyte lysate test: positive reactions with polynucleotides and proteins. J Infect Dis. 1973 Sep;128(3):349–352. doi: 10.1093/infdis/128.3.349. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Felman Y. M., Scaffidi S. Reported gonorrhea: trends in New York City, 1970 to 1975. N Y State J Med. 1977 Jun;77(7):1083–1089. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Feng W. C., Medeiros A. A., Murray E. S. Diagnosis of gonorrhea in male patients by culture of uncentrifuged first-voided urine. JAMA. 1977 Feb 28;237(9):896–897. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Furness G., Evangelista A. T., Kaminski Z. Corynebacterium genitalium (nonspecific urethritis corynebacteria). Biologic reactions differentiating commensals of the urogenital tract from the pathogens responsible for urethritis. Invest Urol. 1977 Jul;15(1):23–27. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Holmes K. K., Handsfield H. H., Wang S. P., Wentworth B. B., Turck M., Anderson J. B., Alexander E. R. Etiology of nongonococcal urethritis. N Engl J Med. 1975 Jun 5;292(23):1199–1205. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197506052922301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jacobs N. F., Kraus S. J. Gonococcal and nongonococcal urethritis in men. Clinical and laboratory differentiation. Ann Intern Med. 1975 Jan;82(1):7–12. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-82-1-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Johnston K. H., Gotschlich E. C. Isolation and characterization of the outer membrane of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Bacteriol. 1974 Jul;119(1):250–257. doi: 10.1128/jb.119.1.250-257.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jorgensen J. H., Carvajal H. F., Chipps B. E., Smith R. F. Rapid detection of gram-negative bacteriuria by use of the Limulus endotoxin assay. Appl Microbiol. 1973 Jul;26(1):38–42. doi: 10.1128/am.26.1.38-42.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jorgensen J. H., Smith R. F. Rapid detection of contaminated intravenous fluids using the Limulus in vitro endotoxin assay. Appl Microbiol. 1973 Oct;26(4):521–524. doi: 10.1128/am.26.4.521-524.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. LEVIN J., BANG F. B. THE ROLE OF ENDOTOXIN IN THE EXTRACELLULAR COAGULATION OF LIMULUS BLOOD. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1964 Sep;115:265–274. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Levin J., Poore T. E., Zauber N. P., Oser R. S. Detection of endotoxin in the blood of patients with sepsis due to gran-negative bacteria. N Engl J Med. 1970 Dec 10;283(24):1313–1316. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197012102832404. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Melton L. J., 3rd Comparative incidence of gonorrhea and nongonococcal urethritis in the United States Navy. Am J Epidemiol. 1976 Nov;104(5):535–542. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112327. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rice P. A., Kasper D. L. Characterization of gonococcal antigens responsible for induction of bactericidal antibody in disseminated infection. J Clin Invest. 1977 Nov;60(5):1149–1158. doi: 10.1172/JCI108867. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tuazon C. U., Perez A. A., Elin R. J., Sheagren J. N. Detection of endotoxin in cerebrospinal and joint fluids by limulus assay. Arch Intern Med. 1977 Jan;137(1):55–56. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Welch B. G., O'Reilly R. J. An indirect fluorescent-antibody technique for study of uncomplicated gonorrhea. I. Methodology. J Infect Dis. 1973 Jan;127(1):69–76. doi: 10.1093/infdis/127.1.69. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wildfeuer A., Heymer B., Schleifer K. H., Haferkamp O. Investigations on the specificity of the Limulus test for the detection of endotoxin. Appl Microbiol. 1974 Nov;28(5):867–871. doi: 10.1128/am.28.5.867-871.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wolf-Watz H., Elmros T., Normark S., Bloom G. D. Cell envelope of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: outer membrane and peptidoglycan composition of penicillin-sensitive and-resistant strains. Infect Immun. 1975 Jun;11(6):1332–1341. doi: 10.1128/iai.11.6.1332-1341.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wong J. L., Hines P. A., Brasher M. D., Rogers G. T., Smith R. F., Schachter J. The etiology of nongonococcal urethritis in men attending a venereal disease clinic. Sex Transm Dis. 1977 Jan-Mar;4(1):4–8. doi: 10.1097/00007435-197701000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Venereal Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES