Quantitative PCR in diagnosing infectious urogenital pathology

Abstract

This article describes the contemporary methods of diagnosing sexually transmitted infections, their advantages and disadvantages, indications for use. The authors describe application of quantitative polymerase chain reaction in diagnosing inflammatory diseases and dysbiotic conditions in men and women. This method, which is currently the “golden standard” in urogenital pathology diagnostics, has undeniable advantages over microbiological methods and qualitative polymerase chain reaction: the preanalytical stage requirements (preservation of quantitative ratios between microorganisms or nucleic acids of microorganisms) are not as strict, the risk of contamination from outside environment and subsequent corruption of the results is significantly smaller, the conditions for all microorganisms, including those impossible and hard to cultivate, are the same sensitivity and specificity-wise, it is possible to sample materials and evaluate microbiota (ratios of microorganisms and their groups) and also possible to collect samples non-invasively, the speed of testing is high.