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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2005, p. 174-178, Vol. 43, No. 1
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.1.174-178.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Detection and Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Joint Biopsy Specimens by rpoB PCR Cloning and Sequencing

Department of Microbiology and Cancer Research Institute, Institute of Endemic Diseases, SNUMRC, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Clinical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital,¹ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Soonchunhyang University Hospital,² Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea³

Received 16 March 2004/ Returned for modification 8 July 2004/ Accepted 26 August 2004

Osteoarticular tuberculosis (OAT) is an extrapulmonary tuberculosis and accounts for 1 to 3% of all tuberculosis cases. We used an rpoB PCR-plasmid TA cloning-sequencing method to detect and identify tubercle bacilli in surgical specimens from patients suspected of having OAT. By comparing the similarities of the rpoB sequences determined with those in GenBank, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected in 23 of 43 samples. Three of the 23 positive samples had mutations at codon 531, which are commonly observed in rifampin-resistant M. tuberculosis strains. Our results suggest that the rpoB PCR-TA cloning-sequencing method developed, which detects M. tuberculosis and which simultaneously determines its rifampin susceptibility, can also be used efficiently for the diagnosis of OAT.