Abstract
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is the leading cause of bacterial community-acquired pneumonia in persons of all ages. Due to the fastidious nature of this bacterium and the necessary specialized growth media, nucleic acid amplification testing is currently the most reliable means for patient diagnostics. Analytical sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and clinical performance of the ELITe InGenius automated PCR platform with its MGB Alert M. pneumoniae real-time PCR research use only reagents (ELITechGroup, Inc., Bothell, WA) were compared with those of a laboratory-developed real-time PCR assay targeting repMp1 for detection of M. pneumoniae The ELITe InGenius PCR assay successfully detected 31 distinct M. pneumoniae clinical isolates and reference strains, and there was no cross-reactivity with other mollicutes, Gram-positive bacteria, or Gram-negative bacteria. In testing 223 clinical samples, the ELITe InGenius PCR showed 95.79% and 99.22% positive and negative agreement with the repMp1 assay, respectively. Additionally, the ELITech platform showed 98.91% positive and 96.95% negative predictive values, and there was no significant difference detected between the two assays (McNemar's test, P = 0.375). The ELITe InGenius PCR assay limit of detection was 0.16 CFU/PCR test or 4.16 genome copies (GCs)/test. Accuracy, instrument ease-of-use, and decreased hands-on time make the ELITe InGenius platform suitable for detection of M. pneumoniae directly from clinical specimens.