title: [Preliminary study on the MLVA genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Fujian province].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To preliminarily understand the genotyping characteristics regarding the variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates so as to provide evidence for the development of tuberculosis control and prevention programs in Fujian province.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen VNTR locus sets were used to detect the clinical isolates from the fifth surveillance project on tuberculosis resistance, in Fujian province. BioNumerics version 4.5 were used to analyze the cluster from the results generated by genotyping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  313 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were divided into 9 clusters, including I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX, with the number of 220, 9, 48, 2, 1, 3, 10, 10, 10 isolates, respectively. Cluster I was the major lineage, accounting for 70.3% (220/313) of the total. Resistance rates of cluster I isolates to isoniazid, streptomycin, ethambutol and multi-drug-resistant were not statistically different from other clusters (P > 0.05). However, resistance rate to rifampicin (RFP) was significantly higher than that of other isolates of the clusters, 33.2% (73/220) vs. 20.4% (19/93) (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The strains isolated from Fujian province showed significant polymorphism on genotyping. Cluster I seemed to be the dominant, calling for the close monitoring program on cluster I strains.
  
  
  RESULTS
  from our initial studies demonstrated the existence of significant correlation between cluster I strains and drug resistance to RFP.
authors.affiliation: Fujian Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qing-fu
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Qiu-yang
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shu-fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Shu-zhen
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yu-feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jin-feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yan-lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D055815:Young Adult