Minimum inhibitory concentration of cycloserine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis using the MGIT 960 system and a proposed critical concentration.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to determine the breakpoint of cycloserine (CS) susceptibility in MGIT and to describe the molecular characteristics of CS-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates.

METHODS

A total of 124 MTB isolates were recruited in our analysis. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using the MGIT system. The mutations of MTB isolates within alr, ddl, ald, and cycA, potentially conferring CS resistance were analyzed by the whole-genome sequencing.

RESULTS

In vitro drug susceptibility testing of isolates with doubling concentrations of CS revealed that the modal MIC values was 4 mg/L for MGIT, accounting for 35.5% (44/124) of isolates tested. Seven isolates harbored mutations conferring CS resistance, consisting of five with alr mutations and two with ald mutations. On the basis of the MIC distributions of wild-type and resistotype populations, we proposed a tentative epidemiologic cut-off value of 16 mg/l. The proportion of CS resistance in extensively drug-resistant TB was significantly higher than that of multidrug-resistant TB.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we propose critical concentration for MGIT 960 to properly diagnose CS-resistant MTB and demonstrate that mutations in alr and ald genes are the major mechanism conferring CS resistance in clinical isolates.