Study of the High resolution melting curve assay And the ResazurinMicrotiter assay for the rapid identification of multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

The emergence of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis is a globalconcern. Rapid, simple drug susceptibility tests applicable in developing countries would allow earlier treatment of patients with MDR infections. The aim of our study was to evaluate two techniques for the rapid identification of MDR-TB. REMA assay as a phenotypic technique and the HRM-curve assay as a genotypic technique. Thirty M. tuberculosis clinical isolates of known resistance phenotypes were used. HRM curve was generated for each isolate to scan for mutations in the rpoB, and katG genes to detect RMP and INH resistance. The REMA colorimetric assay was also evaluated using the same isolates. The results of both techniques were compared to the gold standard proportional method.