Evaluation of MTBDRplus and MTBDRsl in Detecting Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in a Chinese Population

Background. This study aims to evaluate GenoType MTBDRplus and GenoType MTBDRsl for their ability to detect drug-resistant tuberculosis in a Chinese population. Methods. We collected 112 Mycobacteria tuberculosis strains from Jiangsu province, China. The conventional DST and line probe assay were used to detect drug resistance to rifampicin (RFP), isoniazid (INH), ofloxacin (OFX), kanamycin (Km), and ethambutol (EMB). Results. The sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 50% for RFP and 86.11% and 47.06% for INH, respectively. The most common mutations observed in MTBDRplus were rpoBWT8 omission + MUT3 presence, katGWT omission + MUT1 presence, and inhAWT1 omission + MUT1 presence. For drug resistance to OFX, Km, and EMB, the sensitivity of MTBDRsl was 94.74%, 62.50%, and 58.82%, respectively, while the specificity was 92.59%, 98.81%, and 91.67%, respectively. The most common mutations were gyrAWT3 omission + MUT3C presence, rrsMUT1 presence, embBWT omission + MUT1B presence, and embBWT omission + MUT1A presence. Sequencing analysis found several uncommon mutations. Conclusion. In combination with DST, application of the GenoType MTBDRplus and GenoType MTBDRsl assays might be a useful additional tool to allow for the rapid and safe diagnosis of drug resistance to RFP and OFX.