Table 3. Diagnostic performance of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays compared in the present study for the detection of Cryptosporidium hominis, Giardia duodenalis, and Entamoeba histolytica in artificially prepared DNA samples mimicking mixed infections.
Cycle-threshold values are shown.
| Cryptosporidium hominis | Giardia duodenalis | Entamoeba histolytica | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combination | Diagenode | R-Biopharm | Seegene | Fast Track | Diagenode | R-Biopharm | Seegene | Fast Track | Diagenode | R-Biopharm | Seegene | Fast Track |
| 1: Cr + G + Eh | 28.9 | 28.9 | 30.3 | 33.5 | 32.0 | 38.7 | 39.1 | 30.2 | Neg. | 41.8 | Neg. | 30.4 |
| 2: Cr + G + Eh | 38.6 | 31.3 | 34.4 | Neg. | 20.9 | 25.7 | 25.0 | 19.4 | Neg. | 38.7 | Neg. | 33.4 |
| 3: Cr + G + Eh | Neg. | Neg. | Neg. | Neg. | 24.9 | 29.5 | 28.2 | 23.7 | Neg. | Neg. | Neg. | Neg. |
| 4: Cr + G + Ed | 37.6 | 29.1 | 33.4 | Neg. | 28.4 | 31.8 | 33.9 | Neg. | – | – | – | – |
| 5: Cr + G | 26.7 | 25.9 | 27.0 | 34.2 | 23.8 | 27.8 | 27.7 | 29.4 | – | – | – | – |
| 6: Cr + G | 28.0 | 27.5 | 28.6 | Neg. | 25.5 | 29.8 | 29.8 | 19.4 | – | – | – | – |
| 7: Cr + G | 40.9 | 30.5 | 34.3 | Neg. | 31.5 | 32.6 | Neg. | 23.7 | – | – | – | – |
| 8: Cr + G | Neg. | 37.7 | Neg. | Neg. | 26.8 | 29.6 | 30.1 | 26.8 | – | – | – | – |
| 9: Cr + G | Neg. | 29.7 | 32.6 | Neg. | 32.5 | 39.1 | 38.3 | 21.9 | – | – | – | – |
| 10: Cr + G | 39.9 | 30.6 | 34.0 | Neg. | 27.6 | 32.3 | 31.9 | 24.9 | – | – | – | – |
Notes: ´Neg.´ refers to a negative detection in the presence of parasitic DNA; ´–´ refers to a negative detection in the absence of parasitic DNA; Cr, Cryptosporidium hominis; G, Giardia duodenalis; Eh, Entamoeba histolytica; Ed, Entamoeba dispar.