The innovative Deeplex® Myc-TB test for antibiotic resistance prediction in tuberculosis, created by GenoScreen, has been evaluated by an Indian research team. By testing approximately 40 clinical samples, this study validates the use of Deeplex® Myc-TB, by demonstrating its usability in hospital environments. These results confirm the interest of its deployment in hospital routines for the benefit of patients' health.
With 10 million new cases per year, and 1.4 million deaths in 20191, tuberculosis remains the world's deadliest bacterial infectious disease. The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculous strains (responsible for more than 400,000 new cases in 2019) is a global public health problem that complicates the combat against tuberculosis.
Funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and conducted by a research team from the Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre (Mumbai, India), the Department of Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA) and the Bioinformatics Section of the Indian Council of Medical Research (New Delhi region, India), this study, published in January 2021 in Tuberculosis, aimed to validate the use of next-generation targeted sequencing solutions and to its usability in hospital environments.
The Deeplex® Myc-TB test was used on over 40 sputum specimens from patients whose smears were positive for acid-resistant bacilli in addition to a positive Xpert® MTB/RIF test result for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The results obtained were compared to routine antibiotic resistance detection methods (line probe assay, pyrosequencing and MGIT).
The results obtained in this study, with 100% specificity and 83% sensitivity, confirm the effectiveness of the Deeplex® Myc-TB test and demonstrate the value of its deployment in routine hospital practice.
- Kambli P et al. Targeted next generation sequencing directly from sputum for comprehensive genetic information on drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2021 Jan 8; 127:102051. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2021.102051.
About Deeplex® Myc-TB:
Deeplex® Myc-TB is a test for the prediction of antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thanks to its innovative deep sequencing engineering, it allows the simultaneous study of resistance to 13 classes of antibiotic molecules2. This complete diagnosis of the antibiotic resistance profile and genotype of the bacterium is carried out on clinical samples, without any prior culture step. More information
1 OMS. Global tuberculosis report 2020. https://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/
2 1st line molecules (rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol); 2nd line molecules: - fluoroquinolones (such as levofloxacin, moxifloxacin and ciprofloxacin), aminoglycosides (kanamycin, amikacin, capreomycin, streptomycin), - ethionamide, - clofazimine, and new antibiotic molecules (bedaquiline, linezolid).