Analysis of the molecular diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients attending central referral hospital, East Sikkim based on the IS6110 element

Abstract

Background: Using the marker IS6110, which is rated the gold standard for molecular research of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB),this study seeks to determine the type of circulating strain of M tuberculosis complex (MTB). MTB genotype was determined from clinical samples of patients exhibiting pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis at the Central Referral Hospital, SMIMS, Sikkim.Methods: The PCR using IS6110 and 38kDa markers were used for identifying the isolates of M tuberculosis complex in LJ slants and restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology for identifying number of copies of IS6110 had been used to classify 100 M tuberculosis isolates (RFLP-PCR).Results: IS6110 comprised a number of bands ranging between 0 to 2, with the majority of isolates having a single copy, followed by two copies, and a few isolates bearing no copy.Conclusions: This study showed a low copy of IS6110 the most predominant circulating strain in the community of Sikkim with high frequency of 85% of single copy of IS6110.