Loop-mediated isothermal amplification for rapid identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in comparison with immunochromatographic SD Bioline MPT64 Rapid® in a high burden setting

: Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was assessed for rapid identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) in comparison with an immunochromatographic test (ICT) using SD Bioline Ag MPT64 Rapid®. One hundred and fifty-one MGIT cultures positive for acid-fast bacilli were tested for MTC. DNA was extracted from a small portion of culture samples by heat lysis and subjected to LAMP analysis. Of these, 144 were positive and 5 were negative by both tests. One culture that was ICT negative but was LAMP positive was confirmed to have a mutation in the mpt64 gene. The agreement was 98.68% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 94.80-99.77), and the kappa value was 0.83% (95% CI: 0.59-1.00). Good correlation results suggested that LAMP assay is a reliable molecular test for rapid identification of MTC and is practical for use in resource-limited, high burden settings.