Rapid analysis of drug resistant M. tuberculosis complex

Abstract

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) is critical for patient care. AST is often performed using phenotypic broth methods, which require several weeks to complete. We evaluated the Oxford Nanopore Tuberculosis Drug Resistant (TB-DR) assay for identification of MTB drug resistance markers from culture isolates and directly from respiratory specimens in <24 hours. Culture isolates (102) and respiratory specimens (106) were tested using phenotypic AST and the TB-DR assay. In culture isolates, 161 variants across 10 genes were detected by the TB-DR assay. There was a 91% (147/161) concordance with phenotypic AST results. An additional 10 discordant variants were confirmed in favor of the TB-DR assay using another sequencing method yielding an adjusted concordance of 98%. Directly from respiratory specimens, there was a 100% concordance with identification and phenotypic AST for MTB. Overall, TB-DR assay was accurate for the identification of MTB and variants associated with drug resistance.

Biography

Seanne is a Principal Developer for the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and holds the rank of Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. She develops clinical tests to detect and identify microorganisms across numerous platforms including real-time PCR and next-generation sequencing. Seanne serves as an educator within the Mayo Clinic by providing technical support and mentoring numerous fellows and other developers. She has published >20 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and has partnered with industry leaders on a number of patents.