Analysis of bacterial DNA in synovial tissue of Tunisian patients with reactive and undifferentiated arthritis by broad-range PCR, cloning and sequencing

Table 2 Summary of PCR results and cloning details

Patient	PCR intensity score^a	Total number of clones sequenced	Number of obtained bacterial DNA sequences
ReA
1	++++	47	38
2	+++	96	36
3	+++	84	50
4	+++	104	48
5	+++	34	26
6	++++	24	24
UA
7	++	105	48
8	++	114	41
9	++	72	42
10	++	75	25
11	++	96	46
12	++	74	34
13	++	118	42
14	++	60	28
15	++	101	49
RA
16	++	48	40
17	+	96	35
18	+	48	11
OA
19	+	48	31
20	+	72	18
21	+	48	5

^aSemi-quantification of intensity of the 16S rDNA amplification products, visualized using ethidium bromide staining after agarose gel electrophoresis: '+' indicates barely visible band, and '++++' indicates maximal intensity. OA, osteoarthritis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; ReA, reactive arthritis; UA, undifferentiated arthritis.

ISSN: 1478-6362