Setting: We recently evaluated the Genotype MTBDR test for assessing Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to rifampicin (RMP) and isoniazid (INH) by detecting mutations in rpoB (codons 511-533) and katG (codon 315). A new version of the test, MTBDR plus, has been designed to also detect mutations in the regulatory region of inhA.
Objective: To evaluate the performance of MTBDR plus over MTBDR.
Results: In 113 isolates, MTBDR plus detected all 76 RMP-resistant (RMP-R) strains and all 64 INH-resistant (INH-R) strains with KatG-315 mutations, 59 of which displayed a high level of INH resistance. It also identified 18 strains undetectable by MTBDR, without mutation in KatG-315 but with a -15 C-->T mutation in the regulatory region of inhA, of which 15 displayed a low level of INH resistance. Thirteen INH-R strains, which mainly harboured mutations in KatG at positions other than 315, were undetected by MTBDR plus.
Conclusion: MTBDR plus retains the accuracy shown by MTBDR in detecting RMP resistance and is more sensitive in detecting INH resistance (86% vs. 67%), particularly at low levels (minimum inhibitory concentration<1 mg/l, 69% vs. 17%). The negative predictive value of the test (the probability of a strain with a wild-type test being susceptible to INH) is >98% when the rate of INH is <10%, as it is in France.