Objectives:TodevelopamethodofsimultaneousPCRdetectionofHaemophilusducreyi,Treponemapallidum,andHerpesSimplexVirusTypes1and2fromgenitalulcersamongpatientsattendingSTDclinicsinGuangzhou,China;andevaluatetheclinicalapplicationofmultiplexPCR(M-PCR)assayfordiagnosingtheetiologyofgenitalulcerdiseases(GUD).Methods:244patientswithagenitalulcerwereevaluated.ClinicaletiologyofGUDwasbasedonphysicalappearanceandmicrobiologicevaluationsthatincludeddarkfieldmicroscopyexamination(D-F)andserologytestforsyphilis(STS).SwabsofeachgenitalulcerweretestedforHSVantigenbyenzymeimmunoassay(EIA)andprocessedinanM-PCRassayforsimultaneousdetectionofT.pallidum,HSVandH.ducreyi.Results:ThestandardstrainsofT.pallidum,HSVandH.ducreyiwereamplifiedbyM-PCR,producingamplifiedproductsof260bp,432bp,170bp,respectively.ThesensitivityofM-PCRis102pgDNA.M-PCRassayforT.pallidum,HSVandH.ducreyishowedgoodagreementwhencomparedwithD-FdetectionforT.pallidum,STS,H.ducreyicultureandEIAforHSVantigen(Kappascoresare0.774,0.704,0.793,0.756,respectively).Conclusions:TheM-PCRisaconvenient,accurateandreliableassayforthedetectionofT.pallidum,HSVandH.ducreyifromgenitalulcers,andcanbeusedasamethodofdiagnosingtheetiologyofGUD.
