Dear anonymous,
first I want to thank you for using PIKA products, and I am happy that you like our PCR kits and that these have run so excellent in your lab.
About your actual concerns: Indeed, PIKA America has received a similar notice from a customer in Canada, and together with this customer a broad investigation is going on at PIKA Weihenstephan, Germany. The results so far are pointing towards that some of PIKA Weihenstephan's LP Screening kits seem to include a master mix which is causing such failure of PCR, giving the results out as 'inhibited'.
So far, the reason why it comes to that failure of master mix is still not quite clear, as only a few kits which have shipped together in a package are affected, but not the complete lot of this kit. The problem at this customer was solved when we sent fresh master mix to test. He used it with the same kit which was giving invalid results before, and received good results again with the extra shipped master mix. So, your theory was proved – it seems to be a failure of master mix. The most likely reason for the failure might have to do something with a damage of the master mix during the transport to customer, maybe customs inspection with X-ray or something similar.
PIKA Weihenstephan is always transparent in exchange of information with our customers, and we'll take care that you'll receive support and compensation.
If you have received a kit which gives out only 'inhibited' as results, and when you believe that this kit is including a bad batch of master mix, please give notice to PIKA America mailto:sales@pikaamerica.com and mention the lot numbers of both the kit and the master mix, and if possible also the date when you have bought that kit.
Independent from the described phenomenon, we at PIKA Weihenstephan are currently mid-in of undergoing a full product change of master mix in the whole kit series 2024-NN (the 100 ul tubes type which is running on the Chai thermocyclers), stepwise through all kits. Today all LP Screening kits which are shipping from PIKA America are already containing the changed master mix product.
One more note: Due to the closure of Chai and lack of support, PIKA Weihenstephan has set up an alternate real time PCR system also giving automated read-out of results. It is a bundle of a QuantStudio thermocycler (Applied Biosystems) plus PIKA 4everyone Detection Kits in 200 ul PCR tubes. This kit series always has packaged the new master mix product since it went to market.
Feel free to contact me direct if you have any other questions.
Prost from Bavaria, Gudrun
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Gudrun Vogeser
Founder & Owner
PIKA Weihenstephan
Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria
+49 8441 8794830
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-02-2024 10:59
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: qPCR + PiKA LP Spoiler Screening = Inhibited
This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
Greetings
I have been screening samples for Lactobacillus and Pediococcus Spoilage using the Open qPCR and PiKA LP kit #2401-38 for 20 months now with excellent results and no glitches...until recently. The last few runs have produced "abnormal" amplification curves with sporadic "inhibited" results mixed in for several samples. The most recent run came showed all samples "inhibited". I have received no response from PiKA to this point. I'm thinking bad Mastermix and wondering if anyone else has thoughts.
Cheers!