Drug Susceptibility Testing of M. tuberculosis Complex Isolates

Offering a varied set of methods for determining drug susceptibility of the M. tuberculosis complex isolates to any conventional anti-tuberculosis or experimental drugs:

  • Agar Proportion method on Middlebrook 7H11 agar
    • Considered the gold standard for drug susceptibility testing for M. tuberculosis in the United States. It determines the percentage of resistant bacteria in a specimen or culture
    • Direct test: results are available in 3 weeks for about 80 percent of the AFB-positive sputum specimens
    • Indirect test: results are available in 3 weeks for most viable pure cultures
  • Qualitative Testing by the Radiometric Method in 7H12 broth (BACTEC-460)
    • Determines susceptibility to first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs at the critical concentrations
    • Results are available in 8 to 12 days
  • Quantitative Test: determination of the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) by the Radiometric Method in 7H12 broth (BACTEC-460)
    • Quantitative susceptibility test is performed with multiple drug concentrations, and the tentative interpretation of results are reported as "susceptible", "intermediate", or "resistant"

Accreditation

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Catalog of Tests

The Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories (ADx) at National Jewish Health provide both general and specialized testing for clients throughout the world. 

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