Abstract: | The identification of mycobacteria is essential because tuberculosis (TB) and
mycobacteriosis are clinically indistinguishable and require different therapeutic
regimens. The traditional phenotypic method is time consuming and may last up to 60
days. Indeed, rapid, affordable, specific and easy-to-perform identification methods
are needed. We have previously described a polymerase chain reaction-based method
called a mycobacteria mobility shift assay (MMSA) that was designed for
Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) and nontuberculous mycobacteria
(NTM) species identification. The aim of this study was to assess the MMSA for the
identification of MTC and NTM clinical isolates and to compare its performance with
that of the PRA-hsp65 method. A total of 204 clinical isolates (102
NTM and 102 MTC) were identified by the MMSA and PRA-hsp65. For
isolates for which these methods gave discordant results, definitive species
identification was obtained by sequencing fragments of the 16S rRNA and
hsp65 genes. Both methods correctly identified all MTC isolates. Among
the NTM isolates, the MMSA alone assigned 94 (92.2%) to a complex or species, whereas
the PRA-hsp65 method assigned 100% to a species. A 91.5% agreement
was observed for the 94 NTM isolates identified by both methods. The MMSA provided
correct identification for 96.8% of the NTM isolates compared with 94.7% for
PRA-hsp65. The MMSA is a suitable auxiliary method for routine
use for the rapid identification of mycobacteria. |