Work

Importance of the Genetic Diversity within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex for the Development of Novel Antibiotics and Diagnostic Tests of Drug Resistance

Year: 2012

Type: review

Abstract: Despite being genetically monomorphic, the limited genetic diversity within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) has practical consequences for molecular methods for drug susceptibility testing and for the use of current antibiotics and those in clinical trials. It renders some representatives of MTBC intrinsically resistant against one or multiple antibiotics and affects the spectrum and consequences of resistance mutations selected for during treatment. Moreover, neutral or silent changes within genes responsible for drug resistance can cause false-positive results with hybridization-based assays, which have been recently introduced to replace slower phenotypic methods. We discuss the consequences of these findings and propose concrete steps to rigorously assess the genetic diversity of MTBC to support ongoing clinical trials.

Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

DOI: 10.1128/aac.01641-12

Authors: Claudio U. Köser, Silke Feuerriegel, David K. Summers, John A. C. Archer, Stefan Niemann

Institutions: University of Cambridge, Health Protection Agency, Research Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Cambridge Philosophical Society