Inactivation of polymerase inhibitors for Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA amplification in sputum by using capture resin

Abstract

Endogenous PCR inhibitors hamper DNA amplification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in sputum samples. Use of an anion binding resin (GeneReleaser [GR]) improved PCR sensitivity from 77% (27 of 35 culture-positive samples) with phenol-chloroform extraction (P-C) alone to 91% (GR without P-C; P > 0.05) and 100% (P-C and GR combined; P < 0.05).