Rapid Detection of Ofloxacin Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Two Low-Cost Colorimetric Methods: Resazurin and Nitrate Reductase Assays

Abstract

We have evaluated the performance of two rapid, low-cost methods for the detection of ofloxacin (OFX) resistance with 95 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from countries with high multidrug-resistant tuberculosis endemicity. Results obtained by nitrate reductase and resazurin assays showed 100% agreement with those of the proportion method on 7H11 agar using 2 μg of OFX/ml. We confirmed the resistance of all isolates found to be resistant to OFX by the Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube system, and complete agreement among all methods was observed. Nitrate reductase and resazurin assays are rapid, simple, low-cost methods and might become inexpensive alternative procedures for rapid detection of OFX resistance in low-resource countries.