Article No: 1926 Detection of mycobacterium tuberculosis from pulmonary specimens by culture and PCR Tarverdizadeh Y*, ImanifouladiA, KAZEMI DARSANGI R, Ghorbani N Microbiology Email:
[email protected] Background and Objectives: Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains a serious global health problem. Early diagnosis of TB is essential to effective treatment. The aim of this study was to compare culture whit PCR for detection of M. tuberculosis in pulmonary (BAL and sputum) samples among TB suspected patients. Material and Methods: In this investigation, 170 pulmonary samples were decontaminated, concentrated and inoculated on lowensteinjensen medium. These 170 concentrated specimens were used to PCR. DNA was extracted from samples using protocol Qiagen kit. Results: from 158 BAL samples, 11 samples (7%) culture positive and 25 samples (15.8%) PCR positive and from 12 sputum samples, one sample(8.3%) culture positive and one samples(8.3%) were PCR positive. Conclusion: PCR can increase the diagnosis of TB from clinical specimens when used alongside routine culture techniques. Key words: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, PCR, culture
