As. Piatek et al., Genotypic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in two distinct populations using molecular beacons: Implications for rapid susceptibility testing, ANTIM AG CH, 44(1), 2000, pp. 103-110
Past genotypic studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis may have incorrectly e
stimated the importance of specific drug resistance mutations due to a numb
er of sampling biases including an overrepresentation of multidrug-resistan
t (MDR) isolates. An accurate assessment of resistance mutations is crucial
for understanding basic resistance mechanisms and designing genotypic drug
resistance assays. We developed a rapid closed-tube PCR assay using fluoro
genic reporter molecules called molecular beacons to detect reportedly comm
on M. tuberculosis mutations associated with resistance to isoniazid and ri
fampin. The assay was used in a comparative genotypic investigation of two
different study populations to determine whether these known mutations acco
unt for most cases of clinical drug resistance. We analyzed samples from a
reference laboratory in Madrid, Spain, which receives an overrepresentation
of MDR isolates similar to prior studies and from a community medical cent
er in New York where almost all of the resistant isolates and an equal numb
er of susceptible controls were available. The ability of the molecular bea
con assay to predict resistance to isoniazid and rifampin was also assessed
. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the assay for isoniazid resist
ance were 85 and 100%, respectively, and those for rifampin resistance were
98 and 100%, respectively. Rifampin resistance mutations were detected equ
ally well in isolates from both study populations; however, isoniazid resis
tance mutations were detected in 94% of the isolates from Madrid but in onl
y 76% of the isolates from New York (P = 0.02). In New York, isoniazid resi
stance mutations were significantly more common in the MDR isolates (94%) t
han in single-drug-resistant isolates (44%; P < 0.001). No association betw
een previously described mutations in the kasA gene and isoniazid resistanc
e was found. The first mutations that cause isoniazid resistance may often
occur in sequences that have not been commonly associated with isoniazid re
sistance, possibly in other as yet uncharacterized genes. The molecular bea
con assay was simple, rapid, and highly sensitive for the detection of rifa
mpin-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates and for the detection of isoniazid
resistance in MDR isolates.