Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is considered as one of the most important infectious diseases in the world, and recent rise and spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains, have made the matter worsened. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand and estimate the incidence of tuberculosis in large and small biographical ranges by aid of molecular biology methods. Objectives: this study was designed to investigate the genetic diversity among MDR strains of MTB by MIRU-VNTR technique. Methods: During 2013-2014, a total of 88 drug resistant M. tuberculosis isolates from pulmonary TB cases were collected from several TB reference centers in Iran. Drug susceptibility testing for Isoniazid and Rifampin was performed using the agar proportion method and MDR isolates were subjected to genotyping by using 12-locus- based MIRU-VNTR typing. Results: In total, 22 were identified as MDR by using proportion method. Based on the MIRU-VNTR typing, the MDR isolates were classified into 20 distinct MIRU-VNTR genotypes, including 2 clusters (2 strains/cluster) and 18 unique patterns. The discriminatory power of MIRU-VNTR typing was high (HGDI= 0.991) and MIRU 10, MIRU 16, MIRU 26 and MIRU31 were showed to be highly discriminative. A case of mixed infection were also detected. Conclusions: The results showed that MIRU-VNTR typing is a useful method for studying genetic diversity of MTB in regional settings. Besides, it can detect mixed infection which can facilitate management of treatment. This genotypic analysis will help the health sectors to construct an effective control program for the disease.
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