Publication:

Analysis of the molecular diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients attending central referral hospital, East Sikkim based on the IS6110 element

Background Using the marker IS6110, which is rated the gold standard for molecular research of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB),this study seeks to determine the type of circulating strain of M tuberculosis complex (MTB). MTB genotype was determined from clinical samples of patients exhibiting pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis at the Central Referral Hospital, SMIMS, Sikkim.

Methods The PCR using IS6110 and 38kDa markers were used for identifying the isolates of M tuberculosis complex in LJ slants and restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology for identifying number of copies of IS6110 had been used to classify 100 M tuberculosis isolates (RFLP-PCR).

Results IS6110 comprised a number of bands ranging between 0 to 2, with the majority of isolates having a single copy, followed by two copies, and a few isolates bearing no copy.

Conclusions This study showed a low copy of IS6110 the most predominant circulating strain in the community of Sikkim with high frequency of 85% of single copy of IS6110.