Objective The treatment success and the containment of drug-resistant tuberculosis rely on a timely laboratory diagnosis. In view of this, a versatile and user-friendly molecular platform is proposed for the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical s pecimens and the simultaneous detection of resistance to two key anti- tuberculosis agents: rifampicin and fluoroquinolones. The platform will be initially developed for the detection of resistance to rifampicin because the associated mutations are well de fined and their prevalence is sufficiently known worldwide. A small, single-stranded primer covalently-linked to an activated solid surface will be used to amplify a specific DNA target in a microplate well strip format, and an enzymatic chromogen system w ill be applied for detection. The technique will be validated for reproducibility and proof of principle. Subsequently, mutated sequences encoding resistance to quinolones will be investigated. To this end, the gyrA gene will be sequenced in a collection o f M. tuberculosis clinical isolates with known phenotypical resistance to fluoroquinolones. Relevant segments will be added as probes to the platform. The gyrA gene will serve also as a source for M. tuberculosis-specific target segments. A pre-clinical tr ial will be performed to evaluate the combined platform directly in clinical specimens and early liquid cultures. In this trial, the performance of the system will be verified by measuring: i) sensitivity, ii) specificity, iii) predictive values in setting s with different prevalence rates of drug resistance, and iv) turnaround time to diagnosis. This project will add value to the leadership of the European initiative in biotechnology research and confront the emergency of MDRTB through the proposal of a pro mising deliverable useful to support targeted interventions. Fields of science medical and health sciencesclinical medicinepneumologytuberculosisnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmutationmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibioticsmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologyleukemiamedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistancemultidrug resistance Keywords drug resistance molecular detection quinolones rapid methods rifampicin tuberculosis Programme(s) FP6-LIFESCIHEALTH - Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health: Thematic Priority 1 under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Topic(s) LSH-2003-2.3.0-1 - Highly innovative approaches for the development of new interventions for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis Call for proposal FP6-2003-LIFESCIHEALTH-3 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme STIP - Specific Targeted Innovation Project Coordinator PRINS LEOPOLD INSTITUUT VOOR TROPISCHE GENEESKUNDE EU contribution No data Address Nationalestraat 155 ANTWERP Belgium See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (5) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all RIJKSINSTITUUT VOOR VOLKSGEZONHEID EN MILIEU Netherlands EU contribution No data Address Antoine van Leeuwenhoek 9 BILTHOVEN See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data SMITTSKYDDSINSTITUTET - SWEDISH INSTITUTE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL Sweden EU contribution No data Address Nobels väg 18 SOLNA See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data ADMINISTRACIÓN NACIONAL DE LABORATORIOS E INSTITUTOS DE SALUD "DR. CARLOS G. MALBRAN" Argentina EU contribution No data Address Avenida Velez Sarsfield 563 BUENOS AIRES See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data CORPORACIÓN CORPOGEN Colombia EU contribution No data Address Carrera 5 No 66A-34 BOGOTA, D.C. See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data HOSPITAL ZONAL ESPECIALIZADO DE AGUDOS Y CRONICOS DR. CETRÁNGOLO Argentina EU contribution No data Address Italia 1750 VICENTE LOPEZ See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
