Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar 17;16(3):e0238898.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238898. eCollection 2021.

Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in the Volta Region of Ghana

Selassie Ameke  1   2 , Prince Asare  1 , Samuel Yaw Aboagye  1 , Isaac Darko Otchere  1 , Stephen Osei-Wusu  1 , Dorothy Yeboah-Manu  1   2 , Adwoa Asante-Poku  1   2
Affiliations

Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in the Volta Region of Ghana

Selassie Ameke et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Context: Available molecular epidemiological data from recent studies suggest significant genetic variation between the different lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and the MTBC lineages might have adapted to different human populations.

Aim: This study sought to determine the population structure of clinical MTBC isolates from the Volta Region of Ghana.

Methods: The MTBC isolates obtained from collected sputum samples were identified by PCR detecting of IS6110 and genotyped using spoligotyping. Non-tuberculous mycobacterial isolates were characterized by amplification of the heat shock protein 65 (hsp65) gene and sequencing. The drug susceptibility profiles of the MTBCs determined using GenoType MTBDRplus.

Results: One hundred and seventeen (117, 93.6%) out of 125 mycobacterial positive isolates were characterized as members of the MTBC of which M. tuberculosis sensu stricto (MTBss) and M. africanum (MAF) were respectively 94 (80.3%) and 23 (19.7%). In all, 39 distinct spoligotype patterns were obtained; 26 for MTBss and 13 for MAF lineages. Spoligotyping identified 89 (76%) Lineage 4, 16 (13.6%) Lineage 5, 7 (6.0%) Lineage 6, 3 (2.6%) Lineage 2, 1(0.9%) Lineage 3 and 1 (0.9%) Lineage 1. Among the Lineage 4 isolates, 62/89 (69.7%) belonged to Cameroon sub-lineage, 13 (14.7%) Ghana, 8 (9.0%) Haarlem, 2 (2.2%) LAM, 1 (1.1%) Uganda I, 1 (1.1%) X and the remaining two (2.2%) were orphan. Significant localization of MAF was found within the Ho municipality (n = 13, 29.5%) compared to the more cosmopolitan Ketu-South/Aflao (n = 3, 8.3%) (p-value = 0.017). Eight (8) non-tuberculous mycobacteria were characterized as M. abscessus (7) and M. fortuitum (1).

Conclusion: We confirmed the importance of M. africanum lineages as a cause of TB in the Volta region of Ghana.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Study location and 12 health facilities selected.
ADH: Akatsi District Hospital, AGH: Adidome Government Hospital, CCH: Comboni Catholic Hospital, HoMH: Ho Municipal Hospital, Hohoe-MH: Hohoe Municipal Hospital, Keta-MH: Keta Municipal Hospital, Ketu-SMH: Ketu South Municipal Hospital, MMCH: Margret Marquardt Catholic Hospital, VRH: Volta Regional Hospital, STH: South Tongu Hospital, THC: Tsito Health Center, PGH: Peki Government Hospital.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Relationship of identified 33 spoligotype profiles.
Tree was plotted using the MIRU-VNTRplus web application available at https://www.miru-vntrplus.org/.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Geospatial distribution of the two human adapted MTBC species; M. tuberculosis sensu stricto (MTBss) and M. africanum (MAF).
Figure was generated in ArcGIS. Permissions: The authors permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization Global Tuberculosis Report. Geneva. 2019
    1. Brosch R, Gordon SV, Marmiesse M, Brodin P, Buchrieser C, et al. A new evolutionary scenario for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2002;99:3684–3689. 10.1073/pnas.052548299 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meyer CG, Scarisbrick G, Niemann S, Browne EN, Chinbuah MA, et al. Pulmonary tuberculosis: virulence of Mycobacterium africanum and relevance in HIV co-infection. Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2008; 88: 482–489. 10.1016/j.tube.2008.05.004 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gagneux S, Small PM. Global phylogeography of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and implications for tuberculosis product development. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2007;7:328–337. 10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70108-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. de Jong BC, Hill PC, Aiken A, Awine T, Antonio M, Adetifa IM, et al. Progression to active tuberculosis, but not transmission, varies by Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage in The Gambia. J Infect Dis. 2008;198(7):1037–43. 10.1086/591504 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms