Rapid testing on drug susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with nitrate reducrase assay

Objective To establish a rapid method for testing drug sussceptibility on Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Methods Taking absolute Concentration method for drug susceptibility testing of M.tuberculosis as the"gold standard",we examined the drug-resistant of M.tuberculosis strain with nitrate reducrase assay (NRA) and the drug-resistant of M.tuberculosis germ in sputum with NRA. Results NRA and absolute concentration method was basically comparable with NRA susceptibility as 96.5% and the specificity was 100%,When comparing with traditional absolute concentration method, NRA could shorten the time about 3 weeks.Using NRA to test the drug-resistant of M.tuberculosis germ in sputum,its susceptibility was more than 66.7% and specificity was 100%,within 10-20 days. Conclusion NRA could be used as a rapid drug susceptibility testing on M.tuberculosis.