Modern opportunities for species identification of non-tuberculosis mycobacteria

Abstract

The literature review presents the characteristics of the generally accepted and new methods for the identification of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTMB). Ranyon’s classification for the NTMB taxonomy, which is most widespread in Ukraine, is presented. Bacteriological and molecular genetic methods of NTMB identification, which are used in the practice of laboratories of the anti-tuberculosis service of Ukraine, are noted. The possibilities of using new methods and the limitations of their actual application in laboratories are analyzed.It is noted that the improvement of methods is important in the efficiency of diagnostics of mycobacteriosis. The emergence of highly specific and highly sensitive methods for identifying NTMBs (cultivation in automated systems, molecular genetic methods in Ukraine, and abroad the method of high-performance liquid chromatography, and more recently — the method of hour-of-flight mass spectrometry) have significantly expanded the possibilities of laboratory diagnostics of mycobacteriosis. Despite the introduction of new identification methods in domestic microbiological practice, the priority remains the division of NTMB into groups according to cultural properties, which is reflected even at the level of leading regulatory documents. This is due to the significant limitation of the use of modern identification methods due to their high cost. It has been shown that the species identification of NTMBs is an indispensable condition in choosing the tactics of antimicrobial chemotherapy due to the pronounced natural resistance to antibiotics in most types of NTMBs. A significant variety of pathogens, the ambiguity of methods of microscopic examination and cultivation, the introduction of new identification methods into practice require the development of regulatory documents governing the methods of laboratory diagnostics and identification of etiologically significant NTMBs.