A highly rifampicin resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain emerging in Southern Brazil.

Here we described phenotypical, molecular and epidemiological features of a highly rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain emerging in Southern Brazil, that carries an uncommon insertion of 12 nucleotides at the codon 435 in the rpoB gene. Employing a whole-genome sequencing-based study on drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, we identified this emergent strain in 16 (9.19%) from 174 rifampicin-resistant clinical strains, all of them belonging to LAM RD115 sublineage.

Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isoniazid monoresistant and multidrug-resistant in Rio Grande do Sul, a tuberculosis high-burden state in Brazil.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem in the world and Brazil is among the countries with the highest incidence and prevalence rates, and Rio Grande do Sul, a Brazilian state, occupy a prominent position. Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) further aggravates this scenario, making it more difficult to treat and control the disease. Isoniazid monoresistance (IMR) may increase the risk of progression to MDR-TB and treatment failure.

Detection of tuberculosis drug resistance: a comparison by Mycobacterium tuberculosis MLPA assay versus Genotype®MTBDRplus.

Background: To cope with the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), new molecular methods that can routinely be used to screen for a wide range of drug resistance related genetic markers in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome are urgently needed.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of multiplex ligaton-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) against Genotype® MTBDRplus to detect resistance to isoniazid (INHr) and rifampicin (RIFr).

Method: 96 culture isolates characterised for identification, drug susceptibility testing (DST) and sequencing of rpoB, katG, and inhA genes were evaluated by the MLPA and Genotype®MTBDRplus assays.

Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis of the Latin American Mediterranean Lineage, Wrongly Identified as Mycobacterium pinnipedii (Spoligotype International Type 863 [SIT863]), Causing Active Tuberculosis in South Brazil.

We recently detected the spoligotype patterns of strains of Mycobacterium pinnipedii, a species of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, in sputum samples from nine cases with pulmonary tuberculosis residing in Porto Alegre, South Brazil. Because this species is rarely encountered in humans, we further characterized these nine isolates by additional genotyping techniques, including 24-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing, verification of the loci TbD1, RD9, pks15/1, RD(Rio), and fbpC, the insertion of IS6110 at a site specific to the M. tuberculosis Latin American Mediterranean (LAM) lineage, and whole-genome sequencing.

Tuberculosis recurrence in a high incidence setting for HIV and tuberculosis in Brazil.

Background: To compare epidemiological data between recurrent cases after cure (RC), distinguishing relapse from reinfection, after dropout (RD) and new cases (NC) in an ambulatory setting in a TB-endemic country.

Methods: Records of patients who started treatment for pulmonary TB between 2004 and 2010 in a TB clinic were reviewed. Epidemiological data were analyzed.

In house reverse membrane hybridisation assay versus GenoType MTBDRplus and their performance to detect mutations in the genes rpoB, katG and inhA.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) threatens global TB control and is a major public health concern in several countries. We therefore developed a multiplex assay (LINE-TB/MDR) that is able to identify the most frequent mutations related to rifampicin (RMP) and isoniazid (INH) resistance. The assay is based on multiplex polymerase chain reaction, membrane hybridisation and colorimetric detection targeting of rpoB and katG genes, as well as the inhA promoter, which are all known to carry specific mutations associated with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).