Drug resistance evolution of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain from a noncompliant patient.

ABSTRACT: The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT) represents a worldwide health care problem because of the difficulty in treating these infections. Development of drug resistance in MT arises mainly by mutation of chromosomal genes. To investigate the evolution of a MT population during a long-lasting infection, the phenotypic and genotypic changes in the drug resistance of 10 sequential MT isolates from a noncompliant chronically infected patient were investigated. During more than 12 years of active disease, a MDR population developed; molecular typing showed one single parental strain that infected the patient and persisted throughout the disease. Molecular analysis of the drug resistance-related genes revealed that discrete subpopulations evolved ov

SUBMITTER: Meacci F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1169130 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature