Comparison of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis molecular bacterial load assay, microscopy and GeneXpert versus liquid culture for viable bacterial load quantification before and after starting pulmonary tuberculosis treatment.
Hai HT., Vinh DN., Thu DDA., Hanh NT., Phu NH., Srinivasan V., Thwaites GE., T T Thuong N.
Molecular bacterial load assay (MBLA) rapidly quantifies viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and may be useful for monitoring treatment response and treatment efficacy. We conducted a prospective study in 56 adults with pulmonary tuberculosis from whom 244 sputum samples were collected before and during the first month of treatment. We evaluated MBLA for early monitoring of bacterial burden and investigated bactericidal activities of first-line therapy in patients infected with drug susceptible and resistant isolates. Mtb loads measured by MBLA and culture were correlated after one-week (r = 0.56) and one-month (r = 0.73) of treatment. Correlations between culture and GeneXpert or microscopy were weaker during treatment. Mtb load by MBLA declined more rapidly than GeneXpert after one-week (2.73 Ct, P