Direct comparison of the genotype MTBC and genomic deletion assays in terms of ability to distinguish between members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in clinical isolates and in clinical specimens.

The automated GenoType MTBC assay was evaluated for the ability to detect and identify members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. In addition to 35 reference strains and 157 clinical isolates, performance of this assay was tested directly on 79 smear-positive clinical specimens. The assay proved as accurate as the reference deletion analysis for all 192 isolates and detected and identified M.

Use of smear-positive samples to assess the PCR-based genotype MTBDR assay for rapid, direct detection of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex as well as its resistance to isoniazid and rifampin.

Isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) are two of the most important antituberculosis drugs, and resistance to both of these drugs can often result in treatment failure and fatal clinical outcome. Resistance to these two first-line drugs is most often attributed to mutations in the katG, inhA, and rpoB genes. Historically, the identification and testing of the susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains takes weeks to complete.