Tuberculosis drug resistance testing by molecular methods: opportunities and challenges in resource limited settings

Gemeda Abebe; Fabienne Paasch; Ludwig Apers; Leen Rigouts; Robert Colebunders

doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2010.11.014

Tuberculosis drug resistance testing by molecular methods: opportunities and challenges in resource limited settings

J Microbiol Methods. 2011 Feb;84(2):155-60. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2010.11.014. Epub 2010 Dec 1.

Authors

Gemeda Abebe¹, Fabienne Paasch, Ludwig Apers, Leen Rigouts, Robert Colebunders

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Pathology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia. [email protected]

PMID: 21129417
DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2010.11.014

Abstract

One of the greatest threats to global tuberculosis (TB) control is the growing prevalence of drug-resistant bacilli. Correctly diagnosing drug-resistant TB patients is more problematic in resource-limited settings as there is no or limited infrastructure for drug susceptibility testing (DST) of TB bacilli. The conventional phenotypic DST method for TB takes weeks before declaring the results and initiating proper anti-TB treatment. Molecular DST offers advantages over the phenotypic methods mainly because of the short turnaround time. This review summarizes the different molecular DST methods for TB and discusses challenges and opportunities in implementing them in resource-limited settings.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Antitubercular Agents / pharmacology*
Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
Humans
Microbial Sensitivity Tests / methods*
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
Mycobacterium tuberculosis / drug effects*
Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification

Substances

Antitubercular Agents