title: Multicenter evaluation of the nitrate reductase assay for drug resistance detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: The performance of the nitrate reductase assay was evaluated in a multicenter laboratory study to detect resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to the first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and streptomycin using a set of coded isolates. Compared with the gold standard proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium, the assay was highly accurate in detecting resistance to rifampicin, isoniazid and ethambutol with an accuracy of 98%, 96.6% and 97.9%, respectively. For streptomycin, discrepant results were obtained with an overall accuracy of 85.3%. The assay proved easy to be implemented in countries with limited laboratory facilities.
authors.affiliation: Mycobacteriology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat, 155, Antwerp, B-2000, Belgium. amartin@itg.be
authors.forename: Anandi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montoro
authors.forename: Dihadenys
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lemus
authors.forename: Norberto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Simboli
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morcillo
authors.forename: Maritza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Velasco
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chauca
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barrera
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ritacco
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Portaels
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Palomino
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology*; D050901:Nitrate Reductase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D050901:Nitrate Reductase