title: Identification of Mycobacterium species in direct respiratory specimens using reverse blot hybridisation assay.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The early diagnosis of mycobacterial infections is a critical step for initiating treatment and curing the patient.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the performance of the reverse blot hybridisation assay (REBA) Myco-ID for the rapid identification of Mycobacterium species in acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive respiratory specimens.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 148 AFB smear-positive respiratory specimens were used for the identification of Mycobacterium species using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) REBA, and the results were compared with the gold standard method as well as culture, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PRA) and rpoB sequence analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of this assay showed that 59/148 samples were positive for M. tuberculosis and 87 were positive for non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM); one sample had mixed infection with both M. tuberculosis and NTM. One case was negative for both M. tuberculosis and NTM and was identified as Nocardia farcinica using PRA and sequence analysis. Of a total of 89 cases, the most frequently identified NTM species were M. intracellulare (n = 28, 31.5%), M. avium (n = 21, 23.6%), M. massiliense (n = 19, 21.3%) and M. abscessus (n = 16, 18.0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PCR-REBA assay is an efficient tool for the rapid identification of the main Mycobacterium species in clinical specimens. The PCR-REBA assay can therefore provide useful information to physicians for appropriate treatment by clearly identifying Mycobacterium species.
authors.affiliation: M&D Inc, Wonju Eco Environmental Technology Center, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: H-Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: W-J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial