A Rapid Viability and Drug‑Susceptibility Assay Utilizing Mycobacteriophage as an Indicator of Drug Susceptibilities of Anti‑TB Drugs against Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155

Authors

Gillian Catherine Crowley, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Jim O'Mahony, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown, Co. Cork, IrelandFollow
Aidan Coffey, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown, Cork, IrelandFollow
Riona G. Sayers, Animal & Bioscience Research Department, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Paul D. Cotter, APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland; Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment | Bacteriology | Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology | Biology | Chemicals and Drugs | Diseases | Immunology and Infectious Disease | Medical Sciences | Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutics | Medicine and Health Sciences | Microbial Physiology | Microbiology | Organisms | Pathogenic Microbiology | Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health | Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Public Health

Publication Details

International Journal of Mycobacteriology

Abstract

Background: A rapid in-house TM4 mycobacteriophage-based assay, to identify multidrug resistance against various anti-tuberculosis drugs, using the fast-growing Mycobacterium smegmatis mc² 155 in a microtiter plate format was evaluated, based on phage viability assays. Methods: A variety of parameters were optimized before the study including the minimum incubation time for the drugs, phage and M. smegmatis mc² 155 to be in contact. An increase in phage numbers over 2 h was indicative that M. smegmatis mc² 155 is resistant to the drugs under investigation, however when phage numbers remained static, M. smegmatis mc² 155 found to be sensitive to the drug. Results: The study confirmed that the data are statistically significant and that M. smegmatis mc² 155 is, in fact, sensitive to isonazid, iifampicin, pyranzaimide, and ethambutol as phage numbers doubled over 2 h (P = 0.015, 0.018, 0.014, and 0.020). The study also confirmed that M. smegmatis mc² 155 is resistant to the drugs ampicillin, erythromycin, amoxicillin streptomycin as phage numbers remain static over the same 2 h period (P = 0.028, 0.052, 0.049, and 0.04). This drug-susceptibility profiling of eight different drugs against M. smegmatis mc² 155 was detected in as little as 1½ days with a cost of ~ one euro and fifteen cent to test four drugs. Conclusion: This test is rapid to perform and will have widespread applications in drug-susceptibility testing of other members of the mycobacterial genus. In addition, the platform could also be used as a tool for high-throughput screening of novel antimycobacterial drugs. The main assets of this assay include its relatively cheap cost, versatility, and quick turnaround time.

Recommended Citation

Crowley GC, O’Mahony J, Coffey A, Sayers R, Cotter P. A rapid viability and drug-susceptibility assay utilizing mycobacteriophage as an indicator of drug susceptibilities of Anti-TB drugs against Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155. Int J Mycobacteriol [serial online] 2019 [cited 2020 May 20];8:124-31. Available from: http://www.ijmyco.org/text.asp?2019/8/2/124/260381