33369 - Mycobacterium avium complex and M. abscessus complex RT-PCR

Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) are environmental organisms that can be found in soil, dust, and water including natural water sources (such as lakes, rivers, and streams) and municipal water sources (such as water that people drink or shower in). NTM can form difficult-to-eliminate biofilms, which are collections of microorganisms that stick to each other, and adhere to surfaces in moist environments, such as the insides of plumbing in buildings. Although anyone can get an NTM infection, NTM are opportunistic pathogens placing some groups at increased risk, including those with underlying lung disease or depressed immune systems. These pathogens are typically not transmitted person-to-person. However, person-to-person transmission of M. abscessus has been reported in patients with cystic fibrosis. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis (the cause of tuberculosis) and M. leprae (the cause of leprosy). NTM are also referred to as atypical mycobacteria, mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT), or environmental mycobacteria. Nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) is often overlooked as awareness of the disease has previously been low. Testing rates are often variable and the overlap in symptoms of NTM-PD and co-existing lung disease means that it is likely to be significantly underdiagnosed.

About the Test

If not diagnosed early enough and left unchecked, NTM lung disease can lead to a decline in lung function, worsening symptoms, and a decrease in overall quality of life for patients. Early diagnosis is critical in the appropriate management of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease. NTM lung disease can often be missed due to its nonspecific or overlapping symptomatology in patients with underlying structural lung disease, resulting in NTM being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Despite increasing prevalence, the index of suspicion for NTM lung disease remains low, making early diagnosis an ongoing challenge.

Extraction of genomic acid from lower respiratory specimen followed by PCR amplification of targets using real-time PCR methods. An internal control is added to ensure that extraction was performed correctly and that the PCR reaction was not inhibited.

MAB: Subspecies Mycobacterium abscessus, subsp. Abscessus, subsp. Bolletii, subsp. massiliense.
No cross reactivity:  Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria meningitidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Burkholderia cepacian, Serratia marcescens, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida auris, Candida albicans, Human Coronavirus 229E, Human Adenovirus 24, Coxsackievirus B5, Influenza A 2009 H1N1, Human Metapneumovirus, Influenza A H3N2, Influenza B, Parainfluenza virus 2, Human Rhinovirus, RSV A, RSV B, SARS-CoV2

MAC: Subspecies Mycobacterium avium, subsp. Paratuberculosis, subsp. Hominissuis, subsp. Sylvaticum, Mycobacterium intracellulare, subsp. Chimaera, Mycobacterium colombiense.
No cross reactivity: Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria meningitidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Burkholderia cepacian, Serratia marcescens, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida auris, Candida albicans, Human Coronavirus 229E, Human Adenovirus 24, Coxsackievirus B5, Influenza A 2009 H1N1, Human Metapneumovirus, Influenza A H3N2, Influenza B, Parainfluenza virus 2, Human Rhinovirus, RSV A, RSV B, SARS-CoV2