Population structure of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates in Colombia

Emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates is a major public health problem that threatens progress made in tuberculosis (TB) care and control worldwide. In Colombia, the prevalence of MDR tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has increased slowly but steadily since 2001. However, the population structure of the MDR-TB strains circulating in Colombia is sparsely known. In this work, 203 MDR isolates isolated in 2012-2013 were collected, and characterized by spoligotyping, followed by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR (data available for 190 isolates). The most prevalent genotypes corresponded to SIT42/LAM9 (12.81%), SIT62/H1 (10.34%), and SIT190/Beijing (10.34%). A fine analysis showed that although the MDR strains came from 29 of the 33 departments of Colombia, the distribution of these main lineages was not at random and depended on the city of isolation (p-value <0.000001). Both LAM and Beijing lineage strains were significantly associated with MDR-TB (p-value <0.0001): LAM lineage was associated with 2 patterns of MDR, namely combined resistance to INH + Rifampin (HR), and to SHRE (Streptomycin + INH + Rifampin + Ethambutol), while the Beijing lineage strains were essentially associated with MDR (SHRE). Interestingly, distribution of genotypic lineages in function of drug resistance information (e.g. pansusceptible vs. MDR) was different in our setting as compared to other countries in Latin America. However, MIRU-VNTR patterns were unique for all strains, an observation that did not support active transmission of circulating MDR clones.