Are molecular methods a suitable alternative to gold standardmethods in Salmonella detection?

Background and Aim : Salmonella is one of the most common causes of foodborne outbreaksworldwide. The cultured-based method is considered a gold standard for the detection ofSalmonella. Due to being cost-effective and time-consuming, there is an urgent need to investigatea rapid and cheap method. This study aimed to evaluate different methods to detect the Salmonellagenus, serogroups, and serovars.Methods : Poultry farm feces samples from ۲۱ cities in Iran were collected from January ۲۰۱۶ toDecember ۲۰۱۹. The samples whose microbiological cultures were positive were subjected toserological assay and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (m-PCR) to detect serogroup A, B, C۱,C۲, D۱, E, and H and also FliC. Besides, m-PCR was used to characterize different Salmonellaserovars. The chi-square test was used to compare the discriminatory power of the differentmethods.Results : Out of ۲۳۰۰ Poultry feces samples, ۱۷۳ (۷.۵%) and ۱۶۶ (۷.۲%) samples were detectedas Salmonella by cultivation and m-PCR. Hence, the molecular method's sensitivity compared tocultivation was equal to ۰.۹۶ (CI=۹۵%). The same results were obtained with m-PCR andserological in evaluating H antigenic subgroups. Therefore, the two methods' matching rate indetecting all H antigenic subgroups was ۱۰۰%. Thus, the relationship between the results obtainedfrom both methods was quite significant in the Contingency table statistical test (P <۰.۰۱).Conclusion : The results were confirmed effortlessly within a short period (۲۴-۳۶ hours) comparedto ۳-۸ days for the conventional microbiological methods. Even though our results are preliminary,the m-PCR assay would offer a valuable alternative to microbiological culture.

کلیدواژه ها:

Salmonella ، Poultry ، feces ، Multiplex PCR ، microbiological Culture