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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2009, p. 2156-2164, Vol. 47, No. 7
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.02373-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Comparison of a Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat (VNTR) Method for Typing Mycobacterium avium with Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive-Unit-VNTR and IS1245 Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Typing
,
Takayuki Inagaki,1,2,
Kei Nishimori,3,
Tetsuya Yagi,4
Kazuya Ichikawa,1,2
Makoto Moriyama,1,2,5
Taku Nakagawa,6
Takami Shibayama,7
Kei-ichi Uchiya,1
Toshiaki Nikai,1 and
Kenji Ogawa2,6*
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Meijo University, 150 Yagotoyama, Tempaku-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 468-8503, Japan,1 Departments of Clinical Research,2 Pulmonary Medicine,6 Laboratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization, Higashinagoya National Hospital, 5-101 Umemorizaka, Meito-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 468-8620, Japan,7 National Institute of Animal Health, 3-1-5 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0856, Japan,3 Department of Infectious Diseases, Center of National University Hospital for Infection Control, Nagoya University Hospital, 65 Tsurumai, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-8560, Japan,4 Department of Pharmacy, National Hospital Organization, Nagoya Medical Center, 4-1-1 Sannomaru, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 460-0001, Japan5
Received 11 December 2008/ Returned for modification 9 February 2009/ Accepted 20 April 2009
Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infections are increasing annually in various countries, including Japan, but the route of transmission and pathophysiology of the infection remain unclear. Currently, a variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) typing method using the Mycobacterium avium tandem repeat (MATR) loci (MATR-VNTR) is employed in Japan for epidemiological studies using clinical isolates of M. avium. In this study, the usefulness of this MATR-VNTR typing method was compared with that of the IS1245-restriction fragment length polymorphism (IS1245-RFLP) typing method and a mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit (MIRU)-VNTR typing method reported previously (V. C. Thibault, M. Grayon, M. L. Boschiroli, C. Hubbans, P. Overduin, K. Stevenson, M. C. Gutierrez, P. Supply, and F. Biet, J. Clin. Microbiol. 45:2404-2410, 2007). Seventy clinical isolates identified as M. avium from human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients with MAC infections were used. MATR-VNTR typing using 15 loci distinguished 56 patterns of different allele profiles, yielding a Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index (HGDI) of 0.990. However, IS1245-RFLP and MIRU-VNTR typing yielded HGDIs of 0.960 and 0.949, respectively, indicating that MATR-VNTR has an excellent discriminatory power compared with MIRU-VNTR and IS1245-RFLP typing. Moreover, concomitant use of the MATR-VNTR method and IS1245-RFLP typing increased the HGDI to 0.999. MATR-VNTR typing is inexpensive and easy to perform and could thus be useful in establishing a digital multifacility database that will greatly contribute to the clarification of the transmission route and pathophysiology of M. avium infections.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, National Hospital Organization, Higashinagoya National Hospital, 5-101 Umemorisaka, Meito-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 465-8620, Japan. Phone: (81) 52 801 1151. Fax: (81) 52 801 1160. E-mail: ogawak{at}toumei.hosp.go.jp
Published ahead of print on 29 April 2009.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jcm.asm.org/.
T.I. and K.N. contributed equally to this work.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2009, p. 2156-2164, Vol. 47, No. 7
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.02373-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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