Molecular Analysis of Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

The recent emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has become an area of great concern. This occurs as a result of inadequate treatment management of tuberculosis which provides a selectivepressure that favours the emergence of resistant mutants with enhanced infectiousness. With the failure in the use of attenuated vaccines and several antibiotics, new strategies are needed to check this global epidemic. This review therefore brings to light some of the processes involved in molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains like the use of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and spoligotyping, which have become valuable tools in the epidemiology of tuberculosis, identification of genotypes and transmission events among patients especially those that would haveremained undetected by conventional contact investigation. There is the need to ensure that all patients are properly diagnosed and effectively treated to prevent the emergence and transmission of resistant strains in the community.