Specific, sensitive and rapid detection of human plasmodium knowlesi infection by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in blood samples

Background The emergence of Plasmodium knowlesi in humans, which is in many cases misdiagnosed by microscopy as Plasmodium malariae due to the morphological similarity has contributed to the needs of detection and differentiation of malaria parasites. At present, nested PCR targeted on Plasmodium ssrRNA genes has been described as the most sensitive and specific method for Plasmodium detection. However, this method is costly and requires trained personnel for its implementation. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a novel nucleic acid amplification method was developed for the clinical detection of P. knowlesi. The sensitivity and specificity of LAMP was evaluated in comparison to the results obtained via microscopic examination and nested PCR.