DETECTION OF MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID FOLLOWING IMMUNOMAGNETIC ENRICHMENT

The detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by culture of cerebrospina l fluid (CSF) is unacceptably slow. Low numbers of organisms and the p resence of reaction inhibitors may prevent detection of M. tuberculosi s by PCR. We used immunomagnetic enrichment to accelerate and enhance the detection of mycobacteria in CSF after demonstrating the utility o f the method with pure suspension. Growth was detected earlier in Bact ec cultures of magnetically recovered mycobacteria than in untreated C SF (7 versus 15 days). We detected M. tuberculosis DNA by PCR in the i mmunomagnetically enriched sample but not in untreated CSF. PCR finger printings of the immunomagnetically recovered M. tuberculosis and of t he isolate subsequently recovered by culture were identical.