You recommend the use of MycXtra® for fungal DNA extraction. Can DNA extracted with other kits be used successfully with the MycAssay TM Pneumocystis Real-Time PCR kit?
Studies using the MycAssay TM Pneumocystis Real-Time PCR kit with clinical samples enable us to define a clinical cut off, and also sensitivity and specificity of the assay in a clinical setting. We have done this using MycXtra® so the sensitivity and specificity data we quote are only valid for the specific situation where you use clinical respiratory samples, extract Pneumocystis DNA with MycXtra® and analyse with MycAssayTM Pneumocystis on the Cepheid SmartCycler. However, MycAssayTM Pneumocystis works perfectly well with solutions of DNA whether obtained by MycXtra® or any other extraction system. The analytical characteristics of the kit remain the same but, because we do not know how well these other systems extract Pneumocystis DNA, remove inhibitors or are free from Pneumocystis contamination, we cannot give clinical specificity and sensitivity for these DNA extraction systems. In these cases the final result which states ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ should be ignored; the Ct value
