Table 1.
Main features and reported diagnostic performance of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays compared in the present study for the detection of Cryptosporidium hominis/parvum, Giardia duodenalis, and Entamoeba histolytica from clinical DNA samples.
Fig 1.
Dotplot showing the distribution of Ct values for Cryptosporidium-positive DNA samples obtained with each of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays evaluated in this study.
Mean values and standard deviation ranges for each group are represented by large and short horizontal bars, respectively. Unpaired (panel A) and paired (panel B) groups were represented for comparative purposes.
Table 2.
Diagnostic performance of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays compared in the present study for the detection of Cryptosporidium hominis/parvum, Giardia duodenalis, and Entamoeba histolytica using a reference panel of well-characterized DNA samples (n = 126) from clinical specimens and healthy subjects.
Fig 2.
Dotplot showing the distribution of Ct values for G. duodenalis-positive DNA samples obtained with each of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays evaluated in this study.
Mean values and standard deviation ranges for each group are represented by large and short horizontal bars, respectively. Unpaired (panel A) and paired (panel B) groups were represented for comparative purposes.
Table 3.
Diagnostic performance of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays compared in the present study for the detection of Cryptosporidium hominis, Giardia duodenalis, and Entamoeba histolytica in artificially prepared DNA samples mimicking mixed infections.
Cycle-threshold values are shown.
Fig 3.
Relative detection limit analyses of the four commercial multiplex real-time PCR assays evaluated in this comparative study using serial dilutions of Cryptosporidium-positive (panel A) and Giardia-positive (panel B) individual DNA samples.