Diagnosis and species identification of mycobacterial infections by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of sterile body fluids

Background/Aims: The development of effective, accurate, and rapid diagnostic methods for Mycobacterium infection and mycobacterial species identification is required. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) is an easy, rapid and inexpensive technique for identifying Mycobacterium spp. Methods: We performed PCR-RFLP to detect and identify Mycobacterium spp. from 10 sterile body fluids, including ascites, cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, synovial fluid, and peritoneal dialysis fluid. Clinical samples were collected from patients with diagnoses of definite, probable or suspected mycobacterial infection. The conserved RNA polymerase genes of Mycobacterium spp. were amplified by PCR. Results: The amplified 360-bp region of rpoB was digested with the restriction enzyme MspI or HaeIII. The PCR-RFLP results for the clinical samples were identical to those for M. tuberculosis, M. fortuitum, M. intracellulare, and M. avium. In addition, the results of the PCR-RFLP were identical to those obtained by DNA sequencing. Conclusions: PCR-RFLP analysis of sterile body fluids may be a useful method for the diagnosis of mycobacterial infections and for the differentiation of mycobacterial species.