Improved detection of isoniazid-heteroresistant <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> subpopulations by droplet digital PCR compared to MeltPro TB assay.

ABSTRACT: Drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), especially isoniazid (INH) resistance, challenges tuberculosis control. This study evaluated droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) against the traditional MeltPro TB assay. A total of 77 INH-resistant samples from Beijing Chest Hospital, China, underwent ddPCR, drug susceptibility testing, and Sanger sequencing. Of the 73 valid samples, MeltPro detected 55 INH-resistant and 18 heteroresistant samples; ddPCR found 55 high-frequency mutations, 11 of the 18 heteroresistant by MeltPro as heteroresistant, and 6 of the 7 below limit as sensitive, 1 as Nocardia. Using ddPCR as a secondary screening tool for MeltPro results can screen false positives in MeltPro, improving INH resistance detection accuracy (98.63% vs. 89.04%). DdPCR technolog

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12502712 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature