Respiratory Mycoplasmosis: Detection of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae Antigen by Direct Immunofluorescence
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Respiratory mycoplasmosis. Detection of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae antigen in the material by direct immunofluorescence
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is the causative agent of human respiratory tract diseases, parasitic on cell membranes. The specific gravity of respiratory mycoplasmosis in the general group of respiratory diseases varies for different population groups from 35% to 40%. Mycoplasmal pneumonia accounts for 10-17% of cases of total pneumonia. At intervals of several years, epidemics of pneumonia caused by M can develop . pneumonia, and at the same time the frequency of the disease can double its normal level. Laboratory diagnosis of the disease is carried out mainly serological methods.
Rules for sampling the material for the study. Clinical material (lavage fluid, swabs from the nasopharynx) is obtained with cotton swabs, the collected material is applied a thin layer on the surface of a clean, degreased slide, dried in air and fixed.
The resulting smear with the patient's material was treated with polyclonal antibodies to the cytoplasmic membrane of Mycoplasma pneumoniae labeled with FITC. When viewing the drug in a luminescent microscope, as a result of the reaction, Ag-AT is determined by the green fluorescence of mycoplasmas. A positive evaluation of the results of the study suggests detection of at least 10 bright green granules clearly visible on the reddish background of the preparation. When a smaller amount of luminous granules is obtained in the preparation and the epithelial cells are absent in the preparation, the study is recommended to be repeated. If the amount of epithelial cells in the preparation is sufficient, and the amount of luminous granules is less than 10, the result is considered negative.
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