<i>nspA</i> Gene as a specific genetic marker for detection of <i>Neisseria meningitidis</i> causing bacterial meningitis

Abstract

Bacterial meningitis caused by <i>Neisseria meningitidis</i> which causes human brain meninges damage, is generally diagnosed from patient cerebrospinal fluid through microscopy, immunological assays, biochemical test, PCR, microarray and biosensors. However, these methods are expensive, time-consuming or non-confirmatory due to certain limitations. A quick PCR based method was developed for detection of bacterial meningitis caused by <i>N. meningitidis</i> using specific primers based on amplification of virulence <i>nspA</i> (<i>Neisseria </i>surface protein A) gene partial sequence (202 bp). The <i>nspA</i> gene amplicon could be used as a genetic marker for minimum detection of 10 ng genomic DNA (G-DNA) of <i>N. meningitidis</i> with high sensitivity only in 80 min, which is least time reported for the confirmation of the disease. However, the lower detection limit was found as low as 1.0 ng G-DNA, but with less sensitivity. The cross-reactivity of the genetic marker was also studied with other possible pathogens. A comparison with the presently available detection methods and our method was also done using patient samples.