Duplex detection of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and medically important non-tuberculosis mycobacteria by real-time PCR based on the rnpB gene.
A duplex real-time PCR based on the rnpB gene was developed for Mycobacterium spp. The assay was specific for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) and also detected all 19 tested species of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). The assay was evaluated on 404 clinical samples: 290 respiratory samples and 114 from tissue and other non-respiratory body sites. M. tuberculosis was detected by culture in 40 samples and in 30 samples by the assay. The MTB assay showed a sensitivity similar to Roche Cobas Amplicor MTB-PCR (Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, CA, USA). There were only nine samples with non-tuberculous mycobacteria detected by culture. Six of them were detected by the PCR assay.
Section of Clinical Bacteriology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Benghazi University, Benghazi, Libya.
Guma
G
Abdeldaim
International Reference Laboratory of Mycobacteriology, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Erik
E
Svensson
Section of Clinical Virology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Jonas
J
Blomberg
Section of Clinical Bacteriology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. bjorn.herrmann@medsci.uu.se.
Björn
B
Herrmann
D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D043262:Ribonuclease P / Q000235:genetics*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*
D043262:Ribonuclease P

Mycobacterium tuberculosis
; non-tuberculosis mycobacteria; real-time PCR; rnpB