Evaluation of an immunochromatographic assay for rapid identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in clinical isolates

Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) remains slow. Over the years, several new technologies have been proposed to accelerate and simplify the detection of MTC. In this context, we evaluated an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) (BIO-LINE SD Ag MPT64 TB) for rapid identification of MTC, based on detection of a specific MPT64 antigen of MTC. We have tested it on i) mycobacterial cultures: 210 MTC strains and 28 nontuberculous mycobacteria; ii) M. bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin strain SSI (Statens Serum Institut, Denmark); and iii) 22 microorganisms other than mycobacteria, isolated from cultures. We concluded that this kit has an excellent specificity (100%) and sensitivity (99%) from isolated cultures. The ICA (BIO-LINE SD Ag MPT64 TB) allows excellent MTC identification from clinical isolates. It is a rapid, simple, and inexpensive test, and has a definite contribution in the rapid laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis.