A team at NUI Galway’s Molecular Diagnostics Research Group have developed a new diagnostic DNA test which will help in global efforts to control tuberculosis.
The rapid laboratory test allows for the identification of the exact bacteria causing a patient’s TB, assisting in medical treatment.
In humans, TB is caused by a group of eight bacteria known collectively as mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. TB is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest single-infection killer worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. In 2010 8.8m people worldwide suffered from TB, with 1.4m dying from the disease. More than 95 per cent of cases occured in developing countries. The new DNA test, called SeekTB, identifies which of the eight bacteria cause any given case of TB.
“The optimal patient treatment can be different, depending which of the eight bacteria are causing the TB, as some of these bacteria are naturally resistant to commonly-used anti-TB drugs,” said Dr Thomas Barry of the group.
Dr Barry, along with his colleagues Dr Justin O’Grady and Dr Kate Reddington, realised that there was a need to identify which bacteria was causing TB, as it would allow for doctors to treat patients accordingly.
“Ideally, in the future, SeekTB could be used directly on patient samples with the test configured on to a handheld machine for use at point-of-care in resource poor settings,” he said. “This could be a huge benefit to medical care provision in remote areas, however, it will likely take years of research and development to achieve such a goal.”
The research was carried out with funding from NUI Galway and the Thomas Crawford Hayes award. The testing of SeekTB was also carried out with international co-operation. The team used previously isolated MTC bacteria provided by Professor Dick van Soolingen, Bilthoven, Holland, and Dr Stefan Niemann from Borstel in Germany. Collaborating with Professor Alimuddin Zumla and Dr Matthew Bates at the University College London, the team successfully analysed patient samples from Lusaka, Zambia. The test only took between one and a half and three hours to perform, meaning it is suitable for use in central testing labs in areas such as Africa, as a guide to providing appropriate treatment.
The research has been published in The Journal of Clinical Microbiology and PLoS ONE.
