[Practical value of the TB-biochip MDR test system in the rapid identification of multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains].

For diagnostic assessment of the TB-biochip MDR test system, 455 sputum samples from new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were tested. Unlike bacterial culture, the TB-biochip MDR test system allows identification of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) strains from mutations in the rpoB, katG, inhA, and ahpC genes rapidly during two days. Multidrug resistance of MBT to rifampicin and isoniazid was mainly due to the combined mutation Ser531 --> Leu in the rpoB gene and to the mutation Ser315 --> Thr in the katG gene.