MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS

Tuberculosis is the predominant infectious cause of mortality today, k illing 3 million people annually. The cornerstones of diagnosis test o n microscopy of specimens using auramine and Ziehl-Neelsen stains foll owed by culture on Lowenstein-Jensen or alternative media. The long ge neration time of Mycobacterium tuberculosis means 2-8 weeks usually el apse before a result is available to the clinician. This has stimulate d research into the use of molecular diagnostic techniques. This artic le reviews the use and limitations of DNA hybridization, restriction f ragment length polymorphism, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and the polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis and epidemiology of tubercu losis. The applicability of molecular biology to determine drug resist ance is also addressed.