Improved differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in the north of England using additional variable number tandem repeat loci

Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates from Hormozgan Province of Iran Based on 15-Locus MIRU-VNTR and Spoligotyping

Background. Considering that Hormozgan province in Iran (southern part of Iran on the Persian Gulf) is among the areas with high prevalence of MDR-MTB and attracts so many sailors and tourists, genetic diversity of MTB isolates circulating in this part of Iran was evaluated. Pattern of TB transmission was also examined. Methods and Material. A total of 38 isolates of MTB were cultured from TB patients from Hormozgan province of Iran and standard MIRU-VNTR typing and spoligotyping were applied to genotype these isolates. Drug susceptibility testing was performed using proportion method. Results. There were 28 VNTR profiles comprising 5 clusters and 23 unique isolates compared to 21 spoligotyping profiles, which contained 9 clusters and 12 unique isolates. Latin American-Mediterranean (n = 9, 23.6%) was found to be the most predominant lineage. MIRU-VNTR analysis, with an HGDI of 0.975, was more discriminating than spoligotyping, which had an HGDI of 0.955. The estimated proportion of TB cases due to recent transmission was 26.3% and 44.7% by MIRU-VNTR and spoligotyping, respectively. The rates of monodrug resistance and MDR were 15.8% and 7.9%, respectively. Two of 3 MDR strains were found to be related to MIRU-VNTR and belonged to the same spoligotyping cluster characterized with T1/SIT53 genotype. Conclusions. The high genetic diversity among MTB isolates suggests that transmission occurred from different sources to this area. Reactivation of a priori, latent MTB infection was found to contribute mainly to TB cases in this geographic region.

MIRU-VNTR analysis of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from three provinces of Iran

BACKGROUND

Iran borders 2 high-burden tuberculosis (TB) countries to the east, and has the highest rates of TB in one of its eastern provinces. Limited information is available on the genetic diversity and transmission dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in Iran. To examine the genetic diversity and transmission dynamics of MTB strains we genotyped a collection of isolates from different parts of Iran.

METHODS

Standard 15-locus variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing was applied to genotype 121 MTB clinical isolates collected from 3 provinces of Iran, including Tehran (the capital of Iran), Sistan-Baluchestan (southeast province of Iran, with the highest rate of TB), and Kermanshah (western part of Iran with high TB/human immunodeficiency virus cases). Antibiotic susceptibility for all isolates was determined using the proportion method.

RESULTS

Sixty-six distinct mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU)-VNTR patterns were detected among 121 isolates. Seventy-five strains grouped into 20 clusters, and 46 isolates were unique. The genetic diversity of strains from Sistan-Baluchestan was higher than that in the other provinces. All isolates from Tehran or Kermanshah that grouped into clusters shared identical patterns with Sistan-Baluchestan. The Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index (HGDI) was 0.972, indicating a high power of discrimination for MIRU-VNTR typing. The MIRU 16 and ETRA loci were designated as highly discriminative. The rates of monoresistance and multidrug resistance were 9.9% and 2.4%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

MIRU-VNTR typing revealed high genetic diversity and suggests the possibility of transmission from Sistan-Baluchestan to other provinces of Iran. This method has potential for genetic analysis and for studying the transmission routes of TB.