Reproductive fitness of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmitted among members of different families

MORCILLO N; B IMPERIALE

Zacatecas

Congreso; IV simposio fronteras del conocimiento en Tuberculosis y otras Micobacteriosis. V Reunión SLAMTB; 2010

SLAMTB

Physiological fitness has been defined as the ability of a microorganism to survive, reproduce and be transmitted. Gene´s mutations conferring resistance to antimicrobial agents might influence M. tuberculosis fitness which can be estimated by determining several parameters of their in vitro growth. Relative fitness (RF) can be defined as the ratio between the clinical isolate fitness and that of the H37Rv reference strain. Growth characteristics and RF variations can also be used as indicators to explore the transmission capability of drug-resistant (DR) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) M. tuberculosis among close contact. The aims of this study were to determine the difference in growth of several DR and MDR clinical isolates transmitted among members of different families; to establish the relationship between mutations related to DR and genetic patterns with the reproductive fitness of these strains and with elements given by conventional epidemiology; and, at last, to postulate a probable chain transmission of prevalent strains among close contact of their respective families.