Effect of incorporation of bead-beating during DNA extraction for quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based detection of Trichuris trichiura in stool samples in community settings: a systematic review

Abstract

Abstract This meta-analysis was designed to assess the effect of the addition of a bead-beating (BB) step during DNA extraction to effectively isolate Trichuris trichiura DNA from stool samples for quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based diagnosis. qPCR-based molecular studies comparing the inclusion of a bead-beating step during the DNA extraction from stool samples with extraction without the step were included in the analysis. Studies using real patient samples in community settings were included. The PubMed database and Google search engine were searched in December 2019. Risk of bias and applicability were assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 checklist. Odds ratios (ORs) for individual studies were combined to estimate the random effects model OR. A total of six independent sub-studies were gathered from two published original articles. The division of the two major studies into six sub-studies was indispensable due to the nature of the study carried out. 128 of the total 192 samples (in all studies) were positive for T. trichiura when BB was used during DNA extraction compared to 108/192 when BB was excluded. The combined OR was 1.66 (95% confidence interval: 1.059 to 2.602). Though only two articles were included in the study, six exclusive individual sub-studies were analyzed. Inherent differences in the background prevalence of helminths in the study population could impact the sensitivity of qPCR. It was found that the inclusion of the BB step during DNA extraction significantly increased the sensitivity of the test. This study was not registered in any database.