Causes and Prevalence of Tuberculosis from Sputum of Patients based on Sd Bioline® and Genotype Mbtc® Assay in Gombe State, Nigeria

This study was carried out in Gombe State, Nigeria to estimate the prevalence and causes of tuberculosis in patients that were suspected to have clinical symptoms compatible to tuberculosis. 1250 patients were included in the study obtained from the medical records of the patients. Five (5) general hospitals were selected for the study. Three sputum samples were collected from the patients and their HIV statuses were also determined using the WHO standard recommended kits called Determine, Unigold and Star pack. Also, data pertaining each individual such as age, sex, occupation and smoking habit were obtained and recorded. The sputum samples were cultured on Loewenstein-Jensen media supplemented with either glycerol or pyruvate. All colonies were ZN stained and the acid fast bacilli (AFB) positive were subjected to SD Bioline® TB AgMPT64 analysis, which differentiate them into the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MBTC) and Non –tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM). The MBTC were then tested for genetic identification into their various species by the use of Genotype MBTC (Hainlifescience) assay. The results showed that, out of 100 sputum samples collected, 40(40%) were MBTC and the remaining 60(60%) were NTM. Of the 40 MBTC subjected to Genotype MBTC, 30(75%) were Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 6(15%) were Mycobacterium bovis and 3(7.5%) were Mycobacterium africanum, 1(2.5%) was unidentified using the standard banding patterns. Also, one thousand two hundred and fifty(1250) patients records were analyzed, which shows that, age group between 11-40yrs and males had the highest prevalence of Tb infection with 687(54.96%) than females with 563(45.04%), there was a statistical association between sex and also between the age group (p <0.05). Three hundred and twenty two (322) (25.76%) patients tested positive for HIV with 115(35.71%) having TB and HIV co-infections. The study therefore had shown that there TB and HIV are present in the State, as such further studies are needed to isolate and differentiate the MBTC and the NTM using clinical specimens in the study area.