Evaluation of eight methods for identification of pathogenic Neisseria species: Neisseria-Kwik, RIM-N, Gonobio-Test, Minitek, Gonochek II, GonoGen, Phadebact Monoclonal GC OMNI Test, and Syva MicroTrak Test

The performance of eight methods in identifying Neisseria species, particularly N. gonorrhoeae, was evaluated. These methods included four rapid carbohydrate utilization tests (Gonobio-Test, Neisseria-Kwik, RIM-N, and Minitek); the Gonochek II, a test which is based on the utilization of chromogenic substrates; and three monoclonal antibody tests (Syva MicroTrak, GonoGen, and Phadebact Monoclonal GC OMNI Test). In all, 182 isolates comprised in six species of Neisseria as well as Branhamella catarrhalis and Moraxella sp. were tested. Cystine-tryptic digest agar supplemented with sugars was included for reference purposes. In the carbohydrate utilization tests, the sensitivity and specificity of the Neisseria-Kwik and Minitek tests for the identification of N. gonorrhoeae were 100%. This compared with sensitivities and specificities, respectively, of 100 and 99.1% for the Gonobio-Test and 99.1 and 100% for cystine-tryptic digest agar sugars and the RIM-N test. The sensitivity and specificity of the Gonochek II test were 99.0 and 86.7%, respectively. Although most test kits did not claim to identify all Neisseria species, in several cases isolates of N. subflava were misidentified or could be misinterpreted as N. gonorrhoeae or N...Continue Reading