Evaluation of Abbott RealTime CT/NG assay for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in cervical swabs from female sex workers in China.

Background: To evaluate the performance of the Abbott RealTime CT/NG assay for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) among female sex workers (FSWs) in China.

Methods: Cervical swabs from 997 participants were blindly detected by the Abbott RealTime CT/NG assay on the automated m2000 molecular platform and Roche Cobas Amplicor CT/NG assay. Discrepant analysis were confirmed by the Qiagen care CT PCR assay. The sample was defined as candidate nvCT-positive if it was CT positive in the Abbott m2000 assay, but CT negative in the other two assays.

Results: 25 specimens that were discordant for CT and 26 specimens that were discordant for NG between the two assays were resolved by Qiagen care CT & NG PCR assays. The sensitivity and specificity, respectively, for Abbott m2000 assay were 92.59% and 100% for CT and 95.45% and 99.90% for NG. The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of Abbott m2000 assay were100% and 98.52% for CT and 95.5% and 99.90% for NG, respectively. No candidate new-variant CT(nvCT)specimens were identified.

Conclusion: Abbott RealTime CT/NG assay were more specify for CT and NG detection, however, its sensitivity for CT and NG were a little bit lower than Roche Cobas Amplicor CT/NG assay. Abbott RealTime CT/NG assay had higher PPV for NG detection than Roche Cobas Amplicor CT/NG assay; it would be more suitable for screening for population with low-prevalence NG. There is currently no evidence that nvCT is present in FSWs in China.