Characterization of the most common embCAB gene mutations associated with ethambutol resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Iran

Introduction Ethambutol (Emb) is one of the first-line drugs in the standard combination therapy for tuberculosis; however, due to the rapid increase in Emb resistance among clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), early detection of Emb resistance is desirable. As the embCAB operon is considered involved in resistance to Emb, this study aimed to analyze the most common mutations within the embCAB operon among MTB isolates from Iran to find any correlations of these mutations with Emb resistance.