First-Line Drug Resistance Patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Isolates from Re-Treatment Patients from Sudan

Drug susceptibility testing (DST) plays a pivotal role in TB patients’ management leading to the selection of most effective drugs. This study aimed to determine resistance patterns to first line anti-TB drugs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from re-treated patients from Sudan. A total of 239 sputum specimens were collected from smear positive re-treatment TB patients during the period from July 2009 to July 2010. Specimens were pre-treated according to Petroff method. The recovered isolates were tested for sensitivity to first line anti-TB drugs by the 1% proportion method. One hundred and forty three (143/239, 59.8%) mycobacterial isolates were successfully recovered. The majority (98.6%, 141/143) of the isolates were Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains. Two strains (2/143, 1.4%) were identified as RIF/INH-resistant MOTT, while fifty four isolates (38.3%, 54/141) were MDR. Multi- drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MDR-TB) among re-treatment patients from national referral centers for tuberculosis diagnosis and management was considerably high in the study isolates.