Prevalence of Multidrug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Mycobacteria growth

Background and objectives: Identification and monitoring ofmultidrugresistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains (MDR) ishighlighted by the high risk of their spreading in different areas.Prevalence of these strains was evaluated in Golestan province innortheast of Iran.Material and Methods: Drug susceptibility testing to Isoniazid andrifampin was carried out for 148 clinical samples that had grown inMycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT) system, according to themanufacturer's instructions (Becton-Dickinson, USA). The associationof drug resistance frequency with demographic characteristics andgrowth time were investigated. The appropriate statistical tests, X2 andstudent Ttest were performed for comparison of these variants. A pvalue>0.05 was considered significant in all cases.Results: The turnaround time required for growth of Mycobacteriumtuberculosis in MGIT system was between 2 to 55 days (mean16.3±10.4 days). Of all samples studied, 17.6% and 3.4% wereresistant to Isoniazid and rifampin, respectively, and 3.4% (5 samples)were MDR (CI 95%; 1- 6%). The turnaround time required fordetermining MDR cases was 9.6 days. No statistically significantassociation was found between the resistance to the drugs and none ofthe factors including sex, age, type of clinical sample, and positivity ofthe smear.Conclusion: The prevalence of MDR in the studied region wasdetermined to be 3.4% which is similar to the country-wideevaluations. The turnaround time for Mycobacterium growth and antidrug susceptibility result can be shortened by MGIT method.Key words: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium GrowthIndicator Tube, Multidrug Resistant