Despite the fact that Nepal is one of the first countries globally to introduce multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) case management, the number of MDR-TB cases is continuing to rise in Nepal. Rapid molecular tests applicable in this setting to identify resistant organisms would be an effective tool in reversing this trend. To develop such tools, information about the frequency and distrib...

BACKGROUND Multidrug/extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) is a major public health problem, and early detection is important for preventing its spread. This study aimed to demonstrate the distribution of genetic site mutation associated with drug resistance in M/XDR-TB in the northern Thai population. METHODS Thirty-four clinical MTB isolates from M/XDR-TB patients in the upper ...

A target of the anti-tuberculosis drugs isoniazid (INH) and ethionamide (ETH) has been shown to be an enoyl reductase, encoded by the inhA gene. The mabA (mycolic acid biosynthesis A) gene is located immediately upstream of inhA in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium smegmatis. The MabA protein from M. tuberculosis was expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to hav...

PURPOSE To compare the rapid colorimetric nitrate reductase based antibiotic susceptibility (CONRAS) test performed on Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates with the conventional method i.e, the proportion method. METHODS One hundred clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis were tested for susceptibility to isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF) by the conventional proportion method and CONRAS in Mid...

BACKGROUND The largest outbreak of isoniazid-resistant (INH-R) Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Western Europe is centred in North London, with over 400 cases diagnosed since 1995. In the current study, we evaluated the genetic variation in a subset of clinical samples from the outbreak with the hypothesis that these isolates have unique biological characteristics that have served to prolong the o...

The objective : to evalute effectiveness in clinical trials of the new kit reagents AmpliTest® MBT-Resist-I based on real-time PCR (RT-PCR) versus similar kits reagent registered Russia, identify genetic markers M. tuberculosis complex (MTB) resistance rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH) human biological samples MTB cultures. Subjects Methods . 200 DNA were studied, they had been obtained from...

BACKGROUND Drug-resistant tuberculosis, especially multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), is a major public health problem. Effective management of MDR-TB relies on accurate and rapid diagnosis. In this study, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of the Genotype MTBDRplus assay in diagnosing MDR-TB in Cameroon, and then discuss on its utility within the diagnostic algorithm for MDR-TB. MET...

NADH pyrophosphatase (NudC) catalyses the hydrolysis of NAD(H) to AMP and NMN(H) [nicotinamide mononucleotide (reduced form)]. NudC multiple sequence alignment reveals that homologues from most Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, but not other mycobacterial species, have a polymorphism at the highly conserved residue 237. To elucidate the functional significance of this polymorphism, comparati...

BACKGROUND DNA microarrays can detect tuberculosis and its multi-drug resistant form in M. tuberculosis isolates and sputum specimens with high sensitivity and specificity. However, no performance data currently exists for its use in spinal tuberculosis specimens. This study was aimed to assess the performance of the CapitalBio™ DNA microarray in the detection of isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin ...