Conventional and molecular techniques were applied to detect and characterize drug resistance of mycobacteria in the sputum samples of clinically confirmed tuberculosis. The sensitivity of mycobacteria detection by ZN staining, culture, multiplex-PCR and RFLP were 27.7%, 19.9%, 92.9% and 95.7%, respectively, but all were 100% specific.

The conventional and MAS-PCR methods enabled establishment of the drug resistance in 19.3% and 86.9% cases, respectively. We demonstrated that molecular techniques have potential in accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis.

J Clin Microbiol. 2012 Mar 29;
Authors: Chowdhury IH, Sen A, Bahar B, Hazra A, Chakraborty U, Choudhuri S, Goswami A, Pal NK, Bhattacharya B
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