Evaluation of Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for Diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum in Wad Medani City, Gezira State, Sudan

Plasmodium falciparum considered as the most serious form of species causes malaria compared with other species. Diagnosis of falciparum malaria in Sudan remain a major problem, the laboratory diagnosis depends solely on microscopy and RDTs. Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay is a molecular technique done in isothermal temperature using simple, inexpensive instruments for detection of falciparum malaria. The aim of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for detection of P. falciparum and compare with microscopic detection. A cross sectional hospital based study conducted on 220 blood samples collected from participants suspected to have falciparum malaria attending Wad Medani Teaching Hospitals and 26 healthy participants during the period November 2018 to January 2019. Thick blood films were done and used for P. falciparum detection. The extracted DNA by TE buffer was amplified by LAMP assay targeting 18S rRNA gene. Data were analyzed using Medical calculator (MedCalc) programs (V. 16). The results showed that the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive values were 99.1%, 84.6%, 53.2%, 99.8% respectively. Validation of LAMP diagnostic performance revealed that area under the curve is 0.919, while Weighted Kappa is 0.866. The study concluded that the LAMP assay had the identical diagnostic performance compared with microscopy in diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. This gives a relative effortlessness application of LAMP assay in Sudan after availing the required logistics.