Project description:Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a key antibiotic for the treatment of drug susceptible tuberculosis. PZA-resistance is mainly mediated by mutations in the pncA gene; however the current gold standard is a phenotypic drug susceptibility test requiring a well-adjusted pH-value for reliable results. Our melting curve assay detects a non-wild type genotype in selected pncA regions in at least 3750 gene copies/mL within 2.5 hours. The prototype assay was further evaluated by analyzing 271 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates from Swaziland originating from a previously published drug resistance survey and including 118 isolates with pncA mutations. Sensitivity was 83% (95% CI 75-89%) and specificity was 100% (95% CI 98-100%). Under consideration of further improvements with regard to the target range our melting curve assay has the potential as a rapid rule-in test for PZA susceptibility (wild type pncA), however false resistant results (mutant pncA, but PZA susceptible) cannot be ruled out completely.
Project description:Pyrazinamide (PZA) plays the important role in shortening the tuberculosis treatment period and in treating MDR-TB. Phenotypic PZA susceptibility methods are limited because they require specialized acidified media, which increases costs and complexity. In this study we developed a genotypic high resolution melt (HRM) analysis technique to detect pncA mutations associated with PZA resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Seven overlapping primer pairs were designed to cover the entire pncA gene and upstream regions. Each gene segment was individually amplified by real-time PCR followed by HRM analysis. The assay was evaluated on 98 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates (41 PZA susceptible by MGIT method, 55 PZA resistant, 2 undetermined). HRM was 94% concordant to full-length sequencing results, with most discrepancies attributable to mixed populations per HRM or transversions. Sequencing and HRM yielded 82% and 84% concordance, respectively, to phenotypic PZA susceptibilities by MGIT, with most discrepancies attributable to isolates with wild-type pncA but phenotypic PZA resistance. This HRM technique is a simple and high-throughput method for screening clinical M. tuberculosis samples for PZA resistance.
Project description:Standard culture-based testing of the susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to pyrazinamide is difficult to perform. This systematic review with meta-analyses evaluated the roles of molecular assays targeting pncA and of pyrazinamidase assays. PubMed and Embase were searched for relevant publications in English. Sensitivity and specificity were estimated in bivariate random-effects models. Of 128 articles identified, 73 sets of data involving culture isolates were initially included in meta-analyses. Summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity, respectively, were 87% and 93% for PCR-DNA sequencing (n = 29), 75% and 95% for PCR-single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) (n = 5), 96% and 97% for a mixture of other molecular assays (n = 6), and 89% and 97% for pyrazinamidase assays using the Wayne method (n = 33). The median prevalence (range) of pyrazinamide resistance was 51% (31% to 89%) in multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates and 5% (0% to 9%) in non-multidrug-resistant isolates. Excluding studies with possibly considerable false resistance in the reference assay gave the following estimates of sensitivity and specificity, respectively: 92% and 93% for PCR-DNA sequencing (n = 20), 98% and 96% for other molecular assays (n = 5), and 91% and 97% for the Wayne assay (n = 27). The Wayne assay had significant funnel plot asymmetry, so the test performance might have been overestimated. Considering the prevalence of pyrazinamide resistance in different clinical settings, PCR-DNA sequencing, and possibly other molecular assays targeting pncA, can detect pyrazinamide resistance in multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates, with predictive values largely exceeding 90%, and rule out pyrazinamide resistance in non-multidrug-resistant isolates, with predictive values exceeding 99%. Molecular assays are probably the way forward for detecting pyrazinamide resistance.
Project description:Pyrazinamide (PZA) is one of the first-line agents used for the treatment of tuberculosis. However, current phenotypic PZA susceptibility testing in the Bactec MGIT 960 system is unreliable, and false resistance is well documented. Rapid identification of resistance-associated mutations can confirm the phenotypic result. This study aimed to investigate the use of genotypic methods in combination with phenotypic susceptibility testing for confirmation of PZA-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. Sanger sequencing and/or whole-genome sequencing were performed to detect mutations in pncA, rpsA, panD, and clpC1. Isolates were screened for heteroresistance, and PZA susceptibility testing was performed using the Bactec MGIT 960 system using a reduced inoculum to investigate false resistance. Overall, 40 phenotypically PZA-resistant isolates were identified. Of these, PZA resistance was confirmed in 22/40 (55%) isolates by detecting mutations in the pncA, rpsA, and panD genes. Of the 40 isolates, 16 (40%) were found to be susceptible using the reduced inoculum method (i.e., false resistance). No mutations were detected in two PZA-resistant isolates. False resistance was observed in isolates with MICs close to the critical concentration. In particular, East African Indian strains (lineage 1) appeared to have an elevated MIC that is close to the critical concentration. While this study illustrates the complexity and challenges associated with PZA susceptibility testing of M. tuberculosis, we conclude that a combination of genotypic and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing methods is required for accurate detection of PZA resistance.
Project description:To explore the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of pyrazinamide (PZA) resistance among multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates in Zhejiang province, a total of 274 MDR-TB isolates were collected. Drug susceptibility testing and spoligotyping were performed on all clinical isolates. In addition, the mutated features of PZA-resistant loci, including pncA and rpsA, were also analyzed by DNA sequencing. Our results showed that the prevalence of PZA resistance among MDR-TB strains in Zhejiang province was 43.07% and that PZA resistance was associated with concomitant resistance to streptomycin. The majority of PZA-resistant MDR-TB isolates belonged to the Beijing family. Mutations within pncA, not rpsA, constituted the primary mechanism of PZA resistance. Among 118 PZA-resistant isolates, 53 different mutations were observed in pncA, and most of them were point mutations. Compared with the phenotypic data, DNA sequencing of pncA has sensitivity and specificity of 77.97% and 96.79%, respectively. Analysis of pncA provided a robust tool for rapid detection of PZA drug resistance.
Project description:We developed a pyrazinamidase gene DNA-sequencing method to rapidly identify pyrazinamide resistance-causing mutations in GenoLyse-treated, smear-positive sputum specimens. The sensitivity and specificity were 90.9 and 100%, respectively, compared to those of MGIT drug susceptibility testing, after the exclusion of synonymous mutations and nonsynonymous mutations previously associated with susceptibility to pyrazinamide.
Project description:We determined MICs for, confirmed the presence of pncA mutations in, and performed pyrazinamidase testing on colonies (subclones) obtained from seven isolates that exhibited differential pyrazinamide (PZA) susceptibility. Six of the seven strains were found to exhibit characteristics resulting from the mixture of strains possessing different properties. In addition, our analysis revealed large pncA-spanning deletions (1,565 bp, 4,475 bp, and 6,258 bp) in three strains that showed high PZA resistance.
Project description:Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a first-line antituberculosis (anti-TB) drug capable of killing nonreplicating, persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, reliable testing of the susceptibility of M. tuberculosis to PZA is challenging. Using 432 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates, we compared the performances of five methods for the determination of M. tuberculosis susceptibility to PZA: the MGIT 960 system, the molecular drug susceptibility test (mDST), the pyrazinamidase (PZase) activity assay, the resazurin microtiter assay (REMA), and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction test. The sensitivities of the MGIT 960 system, the PZase activity assay, the mDST, the REMA, and the MTT assay were 98.8%, 88.8%, 90.5%, 98.8%, and 98.2%, respectively. The sensitivities of the PZase activity assay and the mDST were lower than those of the other three methods (P < 0.05). The specificities of the MGIT 960 system, the PZase activity assay, the mDST, the REMA and the MTT assays were 99.2%, 98.9%, 90.9%, 98.5%, and 100%, respectively. The specificity of the mDST was lower than those of the other four methods (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the MGIT 960 system, the MTT assay, and the REMA are superior to the PZase activity assay and the mDST in determining the susceptibility of M. tuberculosis to PZA. The MTT assay and the REMA might serve as alternative methods for clinical laboratories without access to the MGIT 960 system. For rapid testing in well-equipped laboratories, the mDST might be the best choice, particularly for small quantities of M. tuberculosis. The PZase activity assay has no obvious advantage in the assessment of M. tuberculosis susceptibility to PZA, as it is less accurate and requires larger quantities of bacteria.
Project description:Pyrazinamide (PZA) is one of the first line antibiotics used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). we have used human monocyte and a mouse model of pulmonary TB to investigate whether treatment with PZA, in addition to its known anti-mycobacterial properties, modulate the host immune response during Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection.
Project description:Heteroresistance is defined as the coexistence of both susceptible and resistant bacteria in a bacterial population. Previously published data show that it may occur in 9 to 57% of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates for various drugs. Pyrazinamide (PZA) is an important first-line drug used for treatment of both drug-susceptible and PZA-susceptible multidrug-resistant TB. Clinical PZA resistance is defined as a proportion of resistant bacteria in the isolate exceeding 10%, when the drug is no longer considered clinically effective. The ability of traditional drug susceptibility testing techniques to detect PZA heteroresistance has not yet been evaluated. The aim of this study was to compare the capacity of Bactec MGIT 960, Wayne's test, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to detect PZA-resistant subpopulations in bacterial suspensions prepared with different proportions of mutant strains. Both Bactec MGIT 960 and WGS were able to detect the critical level of 10% PZA heteroresistance, whereas Wayne's test failed to do so, with the latter falsely reporting highly resistant samples as PZA susceptible. Failure to detect drug-resistant subpopulations may lead to inadvertently weak treatment regimens if ineffective drugs are included, with the risk of treatment failure with the selective growth of resistant subpopulations. We need clinical awareness of heteroresistance as well as evaluation of new diagnostic tools for their capacity to detect heteroresistance in TB.