Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Using a Novel Point-of-Care BZ TB/NTM NALF Assay: Integrating LAMP and LFIA Technologies

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of infectious mortality from a single infectious agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). This study evaluated the performance of the newly developed BZ TB/NTM NALF assay, which integrated loop-mediated isothermal amplification and lateral flow immunochromatographic assay technologies, for the detection of MTB. A total of 80 MTB-positive samples and 115 MTB-negative samples were collected, all of which were confirmed by TB real-time PCR (RT-PCR) using either AdvanSure^TM TB/NTM RT-PCR Kit or Xpert^® MTB/RIF Assay. The performance of the BZ TB/NTM NALF assay was evaluated by calculating its sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) in comparison to those of the RT-PCR methods. Compared to the RT-PCR, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of BZ TB/NTM NALF assay were 98.7%, 99.1%, 98.7%, and 99.1%, respectively. The concordance rate between BZ TB/NTM NALF and RT-PCR was 99.0%. Rapid and simple detection of MTB is essential for global case detection and further elimination of TB. The performance of the BZ TB/NTM NALF Assay is acceptable with a high concordance with RT-PCR, indicating that it is reliable for use in a low-resource environment.