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Content archived on 2024-05-29

Evaluation of transrenal-DNA detection to diagnose tuberculosis

Objective

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a global threat to public health, of important social and financial concern to the expanding European Union, and a cause of enormous morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Timely and accurate diagnosis is a critical obstacle to TB control, and currently available diagnostic methods are marked by being either insensitive, slow, or cumbersome to use. Nucleic acid amplification is the only rapid detection method with proven sensitivity and specificity, but is difficult to implement in its current format. A method that avoided complex sputum processing and cell lysis steps and that was applicable across multiple amplication formats (e.g. in addition to PCR) would be a tremendous advantage making the development of point-of-care molecular detection tests for TB imminently more feasible.
There is growing evidence that short DNA fragments pass through the renal barrier and appear in urine as transrenal DNA (Tr-DNA). The diagnostic potential of this cell-free Tr-DNA has been demonstrated to have potential use to detect infectious diseases, including TB, HIV, and malaria. In a preliminary study conducted at the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Rome, we have shown that Tr-DNA from M. tuberculosis was detectable in the urine PCR in 100% of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. As the Tr-DNA approach may work for multiple diseases, a single technology platform could ultimately be applied to diagnose a variety of health conditions. TB Tr-DNA project aims to validate the diagnostic potential of Tr-DNA detection for TB, to optimize and simplify the sample preparation methods, and to explore the feasibility of using a diagnostic approach in a developing world setting.
The ultimate goal of TB Tr-DNA will be to obtain the knowledge that will enable the phenomenon of Mtb Tr-DNA to be developed into accurate, rapid and simple to use diagnostic procedure that will be suitable for both the developed and the developing world.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP6-2005-LIFESCIHEALTH-7
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Funding Scheme

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STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
EU contribution
No data
Total cost

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Participants (6)

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