2021 Volume 70 Issue 3 Pages 423-432
In the treatment of Mycobacterium infection, gene analyses are carried out to distinguish Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous mycobacteria rapidly and accurately. To further investigate the simplicity and rapidity of mycobacterial testing, we compared three detection methods using fully automated genetic analyzers, namely, μTAS Wako g1 (Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical Corporation; polymerase chain reaction-capillary electrophoresis [PCR-CE]), TRCReady-80 (Tosoh Corporation; transcription reverse-transcription concerted reaction [TRC]), and GENECUBE (Toyobo; quenching probe [Qprobe]), with our routine methods using the COBAS TaqMan 48 analyzer (Roche Diagnostics; TaqMan) and culture. We calculated the positive/negative agreement rates in 94 pretreated samples. We also calculated the detection sensitivity values using the dilution series of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare. The positive/negative agreement rates of the three detection methods using TaqMan were as follows: PCR-CE, 70.8%/98.6%; TRC, 95.8%/95.7%; and Qprobe, 87.5%/100.0%. The positive/negative agreement rates of the three detection methods with culture were as follows: PCR-CE, 61.5%/98.5%; TRC, 88.5%/97.1%; and Qprobe, 76.9%/100.0%. The minimum detection sensitivity values were as follows: PCR-CE, 2.0 × 10 to 1.1 × 103 CFU/mL; and TRC and Qprobe, 2.0 × 10 to 1.1 × 102 CFU/mL for both. In conclusion, three detection methods using fully automated genetic analyzers are useful for the simple and rapid detection of Mycobacterium avium complex. Choosing analyzers suitable for each facility is important.
