Abstract
Objectives: To use a molecular typing method (opa-typing) to characterise gonococcal isolates obtained from men who have sex with men (MSM) attending a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic in Edinburgh during 2001. To compare the results of opa-typing with A/S (auxotype/serovar) phenotyping, and with epidemiological information obtained by contact tracing.
Methods: Isolates were opa-typed by a PCR-RFLP method where the restriction fragments resulting from digestion with three separate restriction enzymes were resolved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Isolates were considered to have the same opa-type if the band patterns were identical or if they differed by one band between the three digestions.
Results: 40 opa-types were detected from a collection of 73 gonococcal isolates from 61 patients. 26 opa-types were unique, being found in one individual each, 14 different opa-types were found in more than one patient. Opa-typing was found to have a discrimination index (DI) of 0.96, compared to a DI of 0.87 for A/S phenotyping, indicating that opa-typing is better at discriminating between unrelated isolates. Opa-typing confirmed three epidemiological links established by contact tracing, and uncovered a further 13 clusters of isolates.
Conclusions: Opa-typing is a more discriminative method than A/S phenotyping when determining relatedness in gonococcal isolates. The ability of opa-typing to identify sexual networks not disclosed by contact tracing and conventional phenotyping make it a useful method for studying the spread of gonorrhoea with the potential to contribute to the control of this infection.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (70.4 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Copley C. G., Egglestone S. I. Auxotyping of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in the United Kingdom. J Med Microbiol. 1983 Aug;16(3):295–302. doi: 10.1099/00222615-16-3-295. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Day S., Ward H., Ison C., Bell G., Weber J. Sexual networks: the integration of social and genetic data. Soc Sci Med. 1998 Dec;47(12):1981–1992. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00306-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dehio C., Gray-Owen S. D., Meyer T. F. The role of neisserial Opa proteins in interactions with host cells. Trends Microbiol. 1998 Dec;6(12):489–495. doi: 10.1016/s0966-842x(98)01365-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dillon J. A., Rahman M., Yeung K. H. Discriminatory power of typing schemes based on Simpson's index of diversity for Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Oct;31(10):2831–2833. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.10.2831-2833.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ison C. A. Genotyping of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 1998 Feb;11(1):43–46. doi: 10.1097/00001432-199802000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Meyer T. F. Pathogenic neisseriae: complexity of pathogen-host cell interplay. Clin Infect Dis. 1999 Mar;28(3):433–441. doi: 10.1086/515160. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Moyes A., Young H. Epidemiological typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: a comparative analysis of three monoclonal antibody serotyping panels. Eur J Epidemiol. 1991 Jul;7(4):311–319. doi: 10.1007/BF00144994. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- O'Rourke M., Ison C. A., Renton A. M., Spratt B. G. Opa-typing: a high-resolution tool for studying the epidemiology of gonorrhoea. Mol Microbiol. 1995 Sep;17(5):865–875. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1995.mmi_17050865.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Palmer H. M., Leeming J. P., Turner A. Investigation of an outbreak of ciprofloxacin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae using a simplified opa-typing method. Epidemiol Infect. 2001 Apr;126(2):219–224. doi: 10.1017/s0950268801005209. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van Looveren M., Ison C. A., Ieven M., Vandamme P., Martin I. M., Vermeulen K., Renton A., Goossens H. Evaluation of the discriminatory power of typing methods for Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Jul;37(7):2183–2188. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.7.2183-2188.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ward H., Ison C. A., Day S. E., Martin I., Ghani A. C., Garnett G. P., Bell G., Kinghorn G., Weber J. N. A prospective social and molecular investigation of gonococcal transmission. Lancet. 2000 Nov 25;356(9244):1812–1817. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)03234-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- van Duynhoven Y. T. The epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Europe. Microbes Infect. 1999 May;1(6):455–464. doi: 10.1016/s1286-4579(99)80049-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]