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Evaluating culture-free targeted next-generation sequencing for diagnosing drug-resistant tuberculosis: a multicentre clinical study of two end-to-end commercial workflows

Colman RE, Seifert M, De la Rossa A, Georghiou SB, Hoogland C, Uplekar S, Laurent S, Rodrigues C et al.

The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2025

376 participants

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a major obstacle in ending the global tuberculosis epidemic. Deployment of molecular tools for comprehensive drug resistance profiling is imperative for successful detection and characterisation of tuberculosis drug resistance. We aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a new class of molecular diagnostics for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, multicentre clinical evaluation of the performance of two targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) assays for drug-resistant tuberculosis at reference laboratories in three countries (Georgia, India, and South Africa) to assess diagnostic accuracy and index test failure rates. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older, with molecularly confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis, and at risk for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis. Sensitivity and specificity for both tNGS index tests (GenoScreen Deeplex Myc-TB and Oxford Nanopore Technologies [ONT] Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Test) were calculated for rifampicin, isoniazid, fluoroquinolones (moxifloxacin, levofloxacin), second line-injectables (amikacin, kanamycin, capreomycin), pyrazinamide, bedaquiline, linezolid, clofazimine, ethambutol, and streptomycin against a composite reference standard of phenotypic drug susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing.

FINDINGS: Between April 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, 832 individuals were invited to participate in the study, of whom 720…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 376 participants or records.

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