Optimization of MDR-TB Treatment Regimen Based on the Molecular Drug Susceptibility Results of Pyrazinamide

Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is difficult to treat and raises a great challenge to TB control program. That pyrazinamide can shorten the course of treatment and facilitate bacilli clearance has been proved recently. In 2011, WHO recommended to use pyrazinamide throughout the course of treatment for MDR-TB. However, pyrazinamide susceptibility testing has not been widely used in clinic. And the conventional testing is time-consuming and unreliable. In contrast, the detection of pncA and rpsA mutations with molecular methods can provide rapid results of pyrazinamide susceptibility. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the introduce the molecular testing of pyrazinamide susceptibility in optimizing the MDR-TB treatment regimen.