Application of Thermal Cycling Amplification Chip Method in the Detection of Respiratory Machine-Associated Pneumonia Pathogens.

OBJECTIVE

Investigating the application effectiveness of using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) on a microfluidic chip to detect the pathogens associated with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

METHODS

Eighty samples of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) were collected at The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University from July 2022 to July 2023. The bacterial culture technique and the LAMP method were used to detect the nucleic acid of the pathogens in the patient samples. The positivity rates of bacterial culture and LAMP method in detecting VAP pathogens were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 80 specimens were examined, with 73 positive specimens detected using the LAMP method (positivity rate of 91.25%) and 60 positive specimens detected using bacterial culture (positivity rate of 75.00%). The LAMP method exhibited a higher number of positive detections compared to bacterial culture. Both methods showed a high level of concordance and were virtually identical in detecting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Haemophilus influenzae, and Streptococcus pneumoniae.

CONCLUSION

The LAMP method demonstrates significantly improved performance in the detection of pathogens for VAP, with a higher pathogen positivity rate compared to bacterial culture. This method holds promising prospects for clinical application.