Development of Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Detection of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Lung Tissues

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is among the most prevalent and important infectious agents associated with porcine respiratory disease complex. The airway dagame caused by M. hyopneumoniae adversely affect the pulmonary host defense mechanisms and may lead to secondary bacterial infections. Culture is considered to be the "gold standard" for diagnosis but this is a very slow and labor-intensive procedure. Isolation of M. hyopneumoniae is complicated by its fastidious nature and extremely slow growth. Thirty days of incubation may be necessary to detect the organism in primary broth cultures. The purposes of the study were (ⅰ) to develop nested PCR for the detection of M. hyopneumoniae for the detection of M. hyopneumoniae DNA in the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung tissues from experimentally and naturally infected pigs and (ⅱ) to compare the utility of nested PCR with in situ hybridization. (omitted)