Diagnostic Modalities Employed for the Diagnosis of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is the second most deadly disease around the globe. Because
of the higher mortality rate, this disease has been given worldwide attention, killing over 2
million individuals every year. Tuberculosis has the highest prevalence in sub-Saharan
Africa, whereas China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Indonesia globally account for
nearly half of the tuberculosis load. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, whose coating is
impervious, makes gram-staining difficult, therefore, there are other processes to identify
this pathogen. This pathogen causes intense cold-like symp- toms and thrives in the lungs,
although it can also spread throughout the body. The main aspect of tuberculosis control is
the quick diagnosis and efficient treatment of patients. In order to isolate and identify
Mycobacteria, culture on slant media such as the Lowenstein-Jensen slant media is used.
Biochemical testing is now surpassed by molecular or immune-chromatographic tests. The
other common and accepted protocols for detection of active tuberculosis are nucleic acid
amplification tests, anti- gen detection tests, Patho-TB kit, anti-tuberculosis antibodies and
XPERT MTB/RIF molecular assays for quick recognition and simultaneous identification
of rifampin resistance of M. tuberculosis right from patient samples. When screening for

active tuberculosis, chest X-ray imaging is the most commonly used. There is also mo-
lecular diagnostic tools that use the growth of the desired organism in culture to aid in the

diagnosis of a patient suspected of having active tuberculosis, such as nucleic acid probes,
line probe assays, and DNA sequencing. An insight of major in-practice diagnostic
modalities for M. tuberculosis has being presented in present review.