Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 48 5 2019 05 15 917 924 Maryam ARFAATABAR Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Narjes NOORI GOODARZI Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Davoud AFSHAR Department of Microbiology and Virology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Hamed MEMARIANI Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Ghasem AZIMI Department of Internal Medicine, Shahed University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Ensieh MASOORIAN Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Reza POURMAND Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Biotechnology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2019 05 15 Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) worldwide, especially among children and debilitated populations. The present study aimed to investigate a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique for rapid detection of M. pneumoniae in clini-cal specimens collected from patients with pneumonia. Methods: Throat swabs were collected from 110 outpatients who suffered from pneumonia. Throat swab samples were obtained from patients referred to the hospital outpatient clinics of Tehran University hospitals, Iran in 2017. The presence of M. pneumoniae in the clinical specimens was evaluated by LAMP, PCR and culture methods. Sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP and PCR assays were also determined. Results: Out of 110 specimens, LAMP assay detected M. pneumoniae in 35 specimens. Detection limit of the LAMP assay was determined to be 33fg /μL or ~ 40 genome copies/reaction. Moreover, no cross-reaction with genomic DNA from other bacteria was observed. Only 25 specimens were positive by the culture method. The congruence between LAMP assay and culture method was ‘substantial’ (κ=0.77). Specificity and sensitivity of LAMP assay were 88.2%, 100% in compare with culture. However, the con-gruence between LAMP assay and PCR assay was ‘almost perfect’ (κ=0.86). Specificity and sensitivity of LAMP assay were 92.5%, 100% in compare with PCR. Conclusion: Overall, the LAMP assay is a rapid and cost-efficient laboratory test in comparison to other methods including PCR and culture. Therefore, the LAMP method can be applied in identification of M. pneumoniae isolates in respiratory specimens. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/17127 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/17127/6388