000K utf8 1100 $c2021 1500 eng 2050 urn:nbn:de:gbv:8:3-2021-00462-0 2051 10.3390/v13050801 3000 Anastasiou, Olympia E 3010 Eis-Hübinger, Anna Maria 3010 Holtkamp, Caroline 3010 Krumbholz, Andi 3010 Schäfer, Miriam 3010 Schön, Frieda 4000 Fast Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Directly from Respiratory Samples Using a Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Test [Anastasiou, Olympia E] 4209 The availability of simple SARS-CoV-2 detection methods is crucial to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined whether a commercial LAMP assay can reliably detect SARS-CoV-2 genomes directly in respiratory samples without having to extract nucleic acids (NA) beforehand. Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS, n = 220) were tested by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and with the LAMP assay. For RT-PCR, NA were investigated. For LAMP, NA from 26 NPS in viral transport medium (VTM) were tested. The other 194 NPS were analyzed directly without prior NA extraction (140 samples in VTM; 54 dry swab samples stirred in phosphate buffered saline). Ten NPS were tested directly by LAMP using a sous-vide cooking unit. The isothermal assay demonstrated excellent specificity (100%) but moderate sensitivity (68.8%), with a positive predictive value of 1 and a negative predictive value of 0.65 for direct testing of NPS in VTM. The use of dry swabs, even without NA extraction, improved the analytical sensitivity; up to 6% of samples showed signs of inhibition. LAMP could be performed successfully with a sous-vide cooking unit. This technique is very fast, requires little laboratory resources, and can replace rapid antigen tests or verify reactive rapid tests on-site. 4950 https://doi.org/10.3390/v13050801$xR$3Volltext$534 4950 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:8:3-2021-00462-0$xR$3Volltext$534 4961 https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/macau_mods_00001505 5051 610 5550 Covid-19 5550 COVID-19 5550 COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing 5550 Direct Testing 5550 DNA, Viral 5550 Humans 5550 LAMP 5550 Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification 5550 Molecular Diagnostic Techniques 5550 Nasopharynx 5550 Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques 5550 Nucleic acids 5550 RT-PCR 5550 Sars-cov-2 5550 SARS-CoV-2 5550 Sensitivity and Specificity 5550 Specimen Handling