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"Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research is at present a well-known Indian originated scientific journal which started with a humble beginning. I have been associated with this journal since many years. I appreciate the Editor, Dr. Hemant Jain, for his constant effort in bringing up this journal to the present status right from the scratch. The journal is multidisciplinary. It encourages in publishing the scientific articles from postgraduates and also the beginners who start their career. At the same time the journal also caters for the high quality articles from specialty and super-specialty researchers. Hence it provides a platform for the scientist and researchers to publish. The other aspect of it is, the readers get the information regarding the most recent developments in science which can be used for teaching, research, treating patients and to some extent take preventive measures against certain diseases. The journal is contributing immensely to the society at national and international level."



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On Aug 2018




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Dr. Arundhathi. S
MBBS, MD (Pathology),
Sanjay Gandhi institute of trauma and orthopedics,
Bengaluru.
On Aug 2018




Dr. Mamta Gupta,
"It gives me great pleasure to be associated with JCDR, since last 2-3 years. Since then I have authored, co-authored and reviewed about 25 articles in JCDR. I thank JCDR for giving me an opportunity to improve my own skills as an author and a reviewer.
It 's a multispecialty journal, publishing high quality articles. It gives a platform to the authors to publish their research work which can be available for everyone across the globe to read. The best thing about JCDR is that the full articles of all medical specialties are available as pdf/html for reading free of cost or without institutional subscription, which is not there for other journals. For those who have problem in writing manuscript or do statistical work, JCDR comes for their rescue.
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Reviewing articles is no less a pain staking process and requires in depth perception, knowledge about the topic for review. It requires time and concentration, yet I enjoy doing it. The JCDR website especially for the reviewers is quite user friendly. My suggestions for improving the journal is, more strict review process, so that only high quality articles are published. I find a a good number of articles in Obst. Gynae, hence, a new journal for this specialty titled JCDR-OG can be started. May be a bimonthly or quarterly publication to begin with. Only selected articles should find a place in it.
An yearly reward for the best article authored can also incentivize the authors. Though the process of finding the best article will be not be very easy. I do not know how reviewing process can be improved. If an article is being reviewed by two reviewers, then opinion of one can be communicated to the other or the final opinion of the editor can be communicated to the reviewer if requested for. This will help one’s reviewing skills.
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Dr. Mamta Gupta
Consultant
(Ex HOD Obs &Gynae, Hindu Rao Hospital and associated NDMC Medical College, Delhi)
Aug 2018




Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey

"I wish to thank Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), for asking me to write up few words.
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium i e; into the words and sentences on paper. Quality medical manuscript writing in particular, demands not only a high-quality research, but also requires accurate and concise communication of findings and conclusions, with adherence to particular journal guidelines. In medical field whether working in teaching, private, or in corporate institution, everyone wants to excel in his / her own field and get recognised by making manuscripts publication.


Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
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In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
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Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."



Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011




Dr. Shankar P.R.

"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."



Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011
Anuradha

Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.


Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020

Important Notice

Original article / research
Year : 2012 | Month : February | Volume : 6 | Issue : 1 | Page : 34 - 37 Full Version

IgM ELISA: A Better Choice for the Detection of Active Chlamydia trachomatis Infection among HIV Patients


Published: February 1, 2012 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2012/.1863
Kesavaram Padmavathy, Susethira Aruppukottai R., Padma Krishnan, Rajasekaran Shikamani, Kailapuri A. Murugavel., Uma Shanmugasundaram

1. Dept of Microbiology, Dr. ALM PGIBMS, University of Madras, and Sree Balaji Dental College & Hospital, Chennai, India. 2. Dept of Microbiology, Dr. ALM PGIBMS, University of Madras, Chennai, India. 3. Dept of Microbiology, Dr. ALM PGIBMS, University of Madras, Chennai, India. 4. Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine, Chennai, India. 5. Y.R.G CARE, VHS Campus, Chennai, India. 6. Y.R.G CARE, VHS Campus, Chennai, India. PLACE OF STUDY: Dept of Microbiology, Dr. ALM PGIBMS, University of Madras, Chennai, India.

Correspondence Address :
Dr. Padma Krishnan
Asst Professor, Dept of Microbiology,
Dr. ALM Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences,
University of Madras, Taramani campus, Chennai- 600113.
Phone: +91 9840742105; Fax: +91 44 24540709
E-mail address padma.abpkn@gmail.com

Abstract

Context: Co-morbid STIs are documented to serve as risk factors that facilitate the acquisition and transmission of HIV. The cryptic plasmid has been linked to Chlamydial virulence and serves as a key target of diagnostic PCR assays. Reports on the higher incidence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection and the emergence of plasmid-less isolates in developing countries have raised concern.
Aim: The study was aimed to determine the prevalence of active C. trachomatis infection among high risk subjects in South India.
Materials and Methods: Serum and first-void urine samples were screened for C. trachomatis using IgM ELISA and COBAS AMPLICOR PCR respectively.
Results: The study participants include, 100 HIV seropositive patients, 51 Non-HIV-subjects attending STI clinic and 25 healthy adults. The incidence of C. trachomatis infection among HIV patients (n= 100) as measured by positive IgM ELISA result was 3%, while 0% positivity was observed among the cohort II and III. However, PCR analysis revealed that the cryptic plasmid was not detected in the three EIA positive patient samples.
Conclusions: We report here of low incidence of C. trachomatis infection among HIV patients in south India. Discrepancies were noted between the results of IgM ELISA and plasmid- PCR. Our results suggested the existence of plasmid-less/natural variant strains of C. trachomatis in South India. Thus, IgM ELISA still remains the method of choice in the laboratory diagnosis and obviates the use of plasmid based NAATs which could only under estimate the incidence of C. trachomatis infection among the HIV patients.

Keywords

Chlamydia trachomatis, ELISA, PCR, Serology

Introduction
Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common cause of treatable sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide. C. trachomatis infections are clinically silent and hence are of major public health concern (1). A previous South Indian study has reported a high prevalence of female genital chlamydial infection (2). Untreated comorbid STIs serve as risk factors that facilitate the acquisition of HIV (3). Also, early detection and treatment of STIs could reduce the burden of HIV (4). Condoms confer better protection against genital infections that are transmitted via secretions (5). Diagnosis of STI’s in developing countries is essentially based on clinical criteria, symptomatology and physical examination rather than laboratory diagnosis. Hence, we intended to assess the actual prevalence of C. trachomatis infection among HIV patients.

Material and Methods

Study Population and Specimens
Sexually active asymptomatic subjects were recruited for the study following ethical clearance by the Institutional Review Board on Human Ethics and oral informed consent of the subjects to participate after explaining him or her the study protocol. Cohort I included HIV seropositive patients with CD4 count < 500 cells/ cu. mm. Patients on highly active retero-viral therapy were excluded. Cohort II included a high risk population attending a Microbiology Section STD clinic that fulfilled the criteria of HIV sero-negativity and not on anti-microbial therapy for the past one month. Cohort III included sexually active, healthy volunteers of the reproductive age group without any symptoms of genital infections. Blood and first void urine samples were collected from the study participants. The samples were transported in ice to Microbiology laboratory. The serum was separated and stored at –70º C until use. On arrival at the laboratory, well mixed urine samples were centrifuged at 3,000 x g for 30 mins. The deposit was re-suspended in 1 ml of PBS and stored at –70° C until PCR assay.
IgM ELISA:
IgM antibodies to C. trachomatis was detected in the serum samples by using NovaTec C.trachomatis IgM ELISA in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Samples were considered positive if the absorbance value was 10% greater than the cut off value and the results were expressed as NovaTec units (NTU).
Plasmid PCR:
Urine samples of patients who were positive (n=3) for CT IgM ELISA were subjected to plasmid PCR using COBAS AMPLICORTM CT/NG kit. Specimens were processed and tested according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Specimens that yielded CT or NG signal above the test cut off were interpreted positive, regardless of the IC results. Specimens yielding CT or NG signal below the test cut off were interpreted as negative, only if IC signal was above the required cut off.

Results

Cohort I comprised of 100 seropositive HIV patients hospitalised at Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, Chennai. Cohort II comprised 51 Non -HIV patients attending the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) clinic of the Institute of sexually transmitted infections, Government General Hospital, Chennai. Cohort III included 25 sexually active apparently healthy subjects without any symptoms of genital infections. Among 100 HIV patients (male-50, female-48, transgender-2) enrolled in cohort I, the mean age was 36.5 years. Cohort II included 41 males, 10 females with a mean age of 38.5 years and cohort III included 25 healthy adults (13 males and 12 females) and the mean age was 27 years. Out of 176 serum samples screened, 3 samples showed the presence of anti C. trachomatis IgM antibodies by NovaTec ELISA. The overall incidence of C. trachomatis infection among HIV patients (n = 100) included in the study as measured by positive CT IgM ELISA result was 3% (females -2, Males -1), while the positive rate was 0% among the cohort II and III. None of the urine samples of the HIV patients (n=3) with active C. trachomatis infection (positive by CT IgM ELISA) when subjected to COBAS AMPLICORTM CT / NG PCR assay, yielded a positive CT amplification signal. Review of the patient’s hospital records revealed that, of the 3 HIV subjects with active C. trachomatis infection, 2 subjects (male-1, female-1) had CD4 count < 200 cells/cu. mm. Also, two of the three HIV subjects who were positive for C. trachomatis IgM ELISA, were also found to be VDRL reactive, but all the 3 samples were negative for Neisseria gonorrheae.

Discussion

Progressive destruction of the immune system by HIV leads to depletion of CD4 cells making the patient highly vulnerable to a variety of opportunistic infections. HIV patients are at a high risk of acquiring other STI’s (especially genital C. trachomatis infection and syphilis) owing to their promiscuous nature and common route of transmission of these etiological agents. In sexually active men and women, unrecognized and untreated C.trachomatis infection can cause excessive inflammation of the genital tract which consecutively appears to increase both the HIV shedding and viral load in genital secretions (6),(7),(8),(9) thereby increasing HIV infectiousness (10), (11). Also, CD4+ T cells are attracted to either the surface of the ulcer (11) or the endocervix (12) in both ulcerative and non-ulcerative STIs, which sequentially disrupts the innate mucosal immunity and potentially enhances an individual’s susceptibility to HIV infection. Recently there has been a gradual increase in the global burden of C. trachomatis infection. This in part, may be ascribed to the implementation of newer screening protocols, reporting of new chlamydia cases, improved diagnostic tools with a high degree of sensitivity, changes in sexual behaviour. Previous reports have documented a high prevalence of C. trachomatis infection in the Indian population and an urgent need for the development of costeffective, sensitive screening methods (13)(14),(15),(16),(17). The recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report shows that among females attending STI clinics aged 15–24 years, Chlamydia prevalence ranged from 14.8% to 16.3% from 2004–2008 and in men the incidence ranged from 20.5% to 23.7%. The HP2010 target of CDC was to reduce the overall Chlamydia incidence to 3% (18).

Conventional laboratory methods are insensitive, labor intensive and expensive. Accurate laboratory diagnosis remains a challenge; culture has long been considered the gold standard. Nucleic acid amplification methods are currently being adopted as an accurate alternative. However, antibody detection by ELISA is a convenient diagnostic tool in developing countries. Based on our EIA results, the incidence of C. trachomatis infection is found to be relatively low (3%) among the HIV seropositive subjects. This is contrary to a previous report from our region, wherein the overall C. trachomatis prevalence rate was 30.8% and C. trachomatis positivity rate among the HIV positive and HIV negative cases were 54.2%, 26.1% respectively (19). It could be speculated that there is currently a significant reduction in the CT positivity rate among the HIV cases which could possibly be attributed to increased awareness towards STI among these high risk individuals. Our results indicate that the continuing HIV awareness and control strategies adopted in our region has met the HP2010 target of CDC.

CD4 count is an important surrogate marker for the assessment of the stage of the disease and the initiation of anti-retroviral therapy, the incidence of C. trachomatis was relatively common (2/13; 15.4%) in patients with CD4 count <200 cells/cu.mm as opposed to the HIV subjects (1/ 87; 1.1%) with CD4 count > 200 cells/cu. mm.

Molecular detection of C. trachomatis by PCR is more sensitive when performed on urine samples though the numbers copy of organism are less compared to that in present urogenital swab specimens. Nevertheless, testing urine has facilitated the use of a non-invasive method of sample collection and has increased the effectiveness, reduced the cost of screening programmes especially among the asymptomatic individuals in whom compliance is a major problem.

C. trachomatis contains in addition to the chromosomal DNA, a cryptic plasmid (7.5 kb) that is common among all serovars of C. trachomatis, also viable plasmid-less isolates and variants strains with deletion mutation (377bp) within the plasmids are currently being reported (20)(21),(22). The primers CP 24 and CP 27 that were used in AMPLICOR PCR assay are specific to the DNA sequence approximately 208 bp within the cryptic plasmid of C. trachomatis. The plasmid PCR assay could not detect positivity among all the 3 IgM ELISA positive subjects.

George et al., (2003) have documented a decreased positivity by urine PCR (25.2%) as opposed to 32.2% positivity by genital swab PCR. Also, PCR inhibitors were reported in 8.6% of the urine of female patients while, 3.2% among the samples of male subjects (14). However, the positive amplification signal of the internal control in all the 3 CT EIA positive samples in our study further nullifies the possibility of the presence of PCR inhibitors in the amplification process. Hence, the negativity of AMPLICOR PCR could not be attributed to the presence of PCR inhibitory substances in the urine.

The discrepancies between the two assay results observed in our study i.e. positive IgM ELISA and negative Amplicor PCR results could possibly be due to the occurrence of variant strains of C. trachomatis that circulate in our region, which lack the specific cryptic plasmid or possesss deletion mutants. The positive IgM ELISA assay results on plasmid-PCR-negative samples did not appear to be false positives because of the reproducibility of the results when performed in triplicates. These samples appeared to be unique as the presence of anti-C.trachomatis specific IgM antibodies suggestive of active infection were detected though the infecting C. trachomatis stains were either plasmid-free or with plasmids having deletion mutations within the target region.

Variant strains of C. trachomatis lacking the evolutionarily conserved cryptic plasmid have been previously documented among patients with symptomatic STI which were not detected by AMPLICOR PCR assay, but were detected by rRNA - PCR and RNAse Protection (RNP) assay (23). Previous studies have documented the incidence of cryptic plasmid-less variants of C. trachomatis worldwide (24),(25),(26),(27),(28). Recent Swedish reports have documented the incidence and impact of the new variant of C. trachomatis which was described in October 2006. A 377bp deletion mutation in the plasmid target region lead to the negative diagnosis by commercial plasmid based NAATs that eventually resulted in the underestimation of genital Chlamydia infections in the Swedish population (29), (30). A previous study had reported the incidence of a FVU specimen that was strongly reactive in CRT, but negative with the plasmid based Amplicor PCR (Roche) and ProbeTec ET (BD) assays (31). Gupta et al., (2008) have raised concern on the existence of a plasmidless clinical isolate of C. trachomatis in a patient from New Delhi, India and has suggested the use of real-time PCR in reviewing the C. trachomatis prevalence rates in the Indian population (32). Also, Sachdeva et al., (2009) has suggested the possible occurrence of plasmid free variants of C. trachomatis in the Indian population. In their study, four samples tested positive by Roche AMPLICOR MWP kit were found to be negative by the in–house PCR assay targeting the Phospholipase D endonuclease superfamily gene (13). A recent Indian study has reported 4 samples that were negative by Plasmid PCR but positive by DFA and FISH assay (33). Our results suggest that in resource limited settings like India, the use of NAATS (commercial PCR assays, real-time PCR) is questionable and IgM ELISA still stands adequate in the diagnosis of this common STI in the HIV population.

The Advisory Committee for HIV and STD Prevention (ACHSP) (34) and the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2001) (3) have recommended the early detection and prompt treatment of STI’s as an effective HIV prevention strategy. Routine, improved screening for asymptomatic STI’s especially C.trachomatis infection has major public health implications for STI and consequently, would reduce the spread of HIV in this high risk population. In conclusion, we report here the possible occurrence of cryptic plasmid-less or naturally occurring mutant strains of C. trachomatis in South India. Failure to detect these variant strains of C. trachomatis and hence the infected going untreated would have a substantial impact on the incidence, spread, epidemiology and disease management among the high risk patients (with multiple sexual partners) in India wherein, plasmid based COBAS AMPLICOR PCR has been routinely used for Chlamydia screening by the research laboratories. Consistent with other studies, our observations further signify the need for cost effective periodic screening programmes for the detection of active C. trachomatis infection and access to treatment among the high risk patients which would substantially reduce the risk of HIV transmission and disease progression (4), (7), (8), (10), (18), (19), (34). CT specific IgM antibody detection obviates the need for performing plasmid PCR assay and further confirmation by MOMP PCR assay and could also reduce the health care cost. Nevertheless, further studies with a larger sample size and additional molecular methods are still needed to determine the actual magnitude of the problem and would be critically informative in determining whether plasmid-less / deletion mutant variants of C. trachomatis circulate in our geographical setting.

References

1.
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ID: JCDR/2012/3819:1863

FINANCIAL OR OTHER COMPETING INTERESTS: NONE.

Date of Submission: Nov 30, 2011
Date of Peer Review: Dec 26, 2011
Date of Acceptance: Jan 12, 2012
Date of Publishing: Feb 15, 2012

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