SBIR Phase II: Early Growth Metabolic Responses of Mycobacteria

该SBIR第二阶段研究项目开发了一种新的快速，非分子方法，用于快速检测结核分枝杆菌的药物敏感性，结核分枝杆菌是导致流行性疾病结核病（TB）的细菌。目前，所有用于确定药物敏感性的测量-对于处方有效治疗至关重要-完全依赖于检测暴露于已知杀死细菌的药物后缓慢生长的细菌群体的变化。第一阶段证明了该技术的药物敏感性测试方法提供了相称的信息，而无需耗时的生长测量。与目前使用的需要几周才能获得相同信息的方法相比，仅在几个小时内即可获得敏感性结果。此外，耐药菌株很容易从敏感菌株中区分出来，这意味着在几个小时内就有能力识别耐药结核病感染。有了这些信息，医生将能够有信心地开出抗菌药物治疗，因为治疗将是有针对性的，而不是经验性的。这项研究的更广泛的影响是减少耐药感染的传播，增加现在已知的治疗疾病的药物的有效寿命，并降低与更成功的患者结果相关的医疗保健成本。快速检测将有助于更好地控制结核病的蔓延，并管理有效的国内和全球政策。这将使美国和所有其他国家更好地准备在发生流行病或故意广泛接触时进行充分的防御。

This SBIR Phase II research project develops a new rapid, nonmolecular method for quickly testing the drug susceptibility of Mycobacteria tuberculosis, the bacterium causing the epidemic disease tuberculosis (TB). Currently, all measurements for determining drug susceptibility - essential for prescribing effective treatment - rely exclusively on detecting changes in the slow growing bacterial population after exposure to drugs known to kill the bacterium. Phase I demonstrated this technology's approach to drug susceptibility testing provides commensurate information without time consuming measurements of growth. Susceptibility results were obtained in only a few hours compared to currently used methods requiring several weeks to obtain the same information. In addition, resistant strains were easily distinguished from sensitive strains inferring the ability to identify drug resistant TB infections in only a few hours time. With this information in hand quickly, physicians will be able to prescribe antimicrobial therapies with confidence because the treatments will be targeted and not empirical.The broader impacts of this research are the reduced spread of drug-resistant infections, increasing of the effective lifespan of drugs now known to cure disease, and lower healthcare costs associated with more successful patient outcomes. Rapid testing will enable better control over the spread of tuberculosis and the management of effective domestic and global policies. This will leave the United States and all other countries better prepared to mount an adequate defense in the event of an epidemic or intentional widespread exposure.