Nitrate Reductase Assay- For Detection of MDR Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis remains a major health problem worldwide. Further, the incidence of TB is complicated by the increasing incidence of MDR strains of TB bacilli and India is amongst the topmost countries to bear the brunt of morbidity and mortality. The frequency of incidence of MDR-TB could be minimized if rapid DST techniques are used. For rapid detection of TB, various colorimetric and non-colorimetric assays have been developed. Among the colorimetric assays, NRA has been demonstrated to be a promising technique for the timely identification of drug resistant TB. It saves time and labour (avoids pre-isolation of MTB from sputum specimens) and represents the patient's original bacterial population as this assay can be performed directly on smear positive sputum specimens.