Time to Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Using the MGIT 320 System Correlates with Colony Counting in Preclinical Testing of New Vaccines

Abstract

ABSTRACTClinical studies have suggested that the enumeration of mycobacteria by using automated liquid systems is a faster and simpler alternative to quantitative cultures. Here, we show that the time to detection ofM. tuberculosisgrowth as measured with the MGIT 320 liquid culture system inversely correlates with CFU determinations from culture on solid media and that mycobacterial quantification using the MGIT system is faster and easier to perform than CFU plating.