ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2026
Development and evaluation of a multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, Mycobacterium avium complex, and Burkholderia pseudomallei in clinical specimens.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Effective control of tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease, and melioidosis depends on rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) remains a health priority, whereas NTM infections, particularly Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), are increasingly recognized and may be misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. Melioidosis, caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is underdiagnosed in endemic regions. These infections have overlapping clinical presentations, and conventional diagnostics methods may not accurately differentiate among these diseases. We developed and evaluated a quadruplex real-time PCR assay (TAM-mPCR) for simultaneous detection of MTBC, MAC, and B. pseudomallei, targeting IS6110, rrs, and BPSS1187. A total of 607 pulmonary and extrapulmonary specimens from patients with suspected tuberculosis were collected at two sites in Thailand between 2024 and 2025. The limits of detection were 2 pg/reaction for MTBC, 0.1 ng/reaction for MAC, and 50 fg/reaction for B. pseudomallei, with 100% analytical specificity. For MTBC detection, TAM-mPCR demonstrated 100% sensitivity (330/330) and 99% (189/191) specificity. All three culture-confirmed MAC specimens were detected. For B. pseudomallei, the assay demonstrated 73.2% sensitivity (30/41) and 100% specificity (79/79). For MTBC, TAM-mPCR showed high concordance with NAAT and culture results, but differed significantly from AFB microscopy (P < 0.001). The assay also detected additional MTBC, MAC, and B. pseudomallei infections that were missed by routine diagnostics. TAM-mPCR enables rapid simultaneous pathogen detection and differentiation and may improve case detection and patient management in setting where tuberculosis and melioidosis co-endemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.