| Abstract: | The identification of mycobacteria is essential because tuberculosis (TB) andmycobacteriosis are clinically indistinguishable and require different therapeuticregimens. The traditional phenotypic method is time consuming and may last up to 60days. Indeed, rapid, affordable, specific and easy-to-perform identification methodsare needed. We have previously described a polymerase chain reaction-based methodcalled a mycobacteria mobility shift assay (MMSA) that was designed forMycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) and nontuberculous mycobacteria(NTM) species identification. The aim of this study was to assess the MMSA for theidentification of MTC and NTM clinical isolates and to compare its performance withthat of the PRA-hsp65 method. A total of 204 clinical isolates (102NTM and 102 MTC) were identified by the MMSA and PRA-hsp65. Forisolates for which these methods gave discordant results, definitive speciesidentification was obtained by sequencing fragments of the 16S rRNA andhsp65 genes. Both methods correctly identified all MTC isolates. Amongthe NTM isolates, the MMSA alone assigned 94 (92.2%) to a complex or species, whereasthe PRA-hsp65 method assigned 100% to a species. A 91.5% agreementwas observed for the 94 NTM isolates identified by both methods. The MMSA providedcorrect identification for 96.8% of the NTM isolates compared with 94.7% forPRA-hsp65. The MMSA is a suitable auxiliary method for routineuse for the rapid identification of mycobacteria. |
