Evaluation of multiplex Loop-Mediated isothermal amplification assay for the detection of mycobacterium tuberculosis complex from clinically suspected cases of pulmonary tuberculosis

4th International Conference on Primary Health Care & 2nd Euro Nursing Congress

September 15-16 2025 | Virtual Event

Md Zaber

Gazi Medical College , Bangladesh

Abstract :

Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death from a single infectious agent worldwide.
Bangladesh ranks 7th among the 30 high TB burdened countries in the world. Accurate
detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) is challenging for developing
countries as most of the resource-poor settings are not suitable for performing molecular
techniques. The purpose of the study was to compare the multiplex TB-LAMP assay with
MTB/NTM qPCR, culture, Z-N staining, and fluorescence microscopy in order to assess the
effectiveness of the LAMP assay for detecting cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. This research
work was done from March 2022 to February 2023. Fulfilling the inclusion criteria 130 sputum
samples were collected. TB-LAMP assay, qPCR, culture in L-J media, Z-N staining, and fluorescence
microscopy were performed. Out of 130 samples qPCR detected MTBC in 56.92 %
cases, and TB-LAMP detected 53.85 %. MTBC was detected by culture 46.15 %, by Fluorescence
microscopy 40.77 %, and Z-N staining 36.92 %. TB-LAMP detected 16.93 % more cases
than Z-N staining and 13.08 % more cases than fluorescence microscopy. The sensitivity, specificity,
positive, and negative predictive values of multiplex-LAMP assay were 95 %, 81.4 %,
81.4 %, and 95 %, respectively considering culture as a gold-standard. MTBC negative culture
samples (18.57 %) showed positivity by LAMP assay as well as by qPCR. This study detected
7.69 % non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) by qPCR. All NTM positive samples were negative
by TB-LAMP. TB-LAMP is an easy to perform, cost-effective, reliable assay with high
sensitivity and specificity. World Health Organization recommended TB-LAMP as a rapid molecular
test for rapid detection of tuberculosis and as replacement of microscopy in resource
poor settings/hard to reach areas. Bangladesh being a high TB burden country it is essential
to implement TB-LAMP to achieve End TB Strategy by 2035.

Biography :

Md. Zaber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Gazi Medical College, Khulna, Bangladesh.
He holds an MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College and an MD in Microbiology from Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka. With 5 years of research experience in microbiology
and 2 years of teaching experience, Md. Zaber specializes in optimizing culture conditions for bacterial isolation,
understanding molecular technologies for organism detection, and analyzing antimicrobial resistance patterns.
His research also focuses on detecting cytokine levels for COVID-19 diagnosis and identifying Mycobacterium
TB and NTM.