Pattern of Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance in HIV-Associated Tuberculous Meningitis Patients

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major public health problem worldwide. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection-associated tuberculous meningitis (TBM) further complicates the patient management and causes poor prognosis. A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine anti-TB drug susceptibility pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from HIV-associated TBM patients at Waibagi, Thakayta and Mingaladon Specialist Hospitals in Yangon, Myanmar. From January to October 2017, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens collected from 140 HIV infected patients with clinically presumptive TBM were applied for isolation and drug susceptibility testing. First-line drug susceptibility testing were carried out by solid culture-based proportion method. Drug susceptibility patterns of pyrazinamide, fluoroquinolones and second-line injectable drugs were determined by liquid culture-based Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube method. There were 17 culture positives and confirmed as MTB out of 140 specimens. Among them,10 isolates (58.8%) were resistant to at least one of the first-line anti-TB drugs. Eight isolates (47.1%) showed multidrug resistance but there was no extensively drug resistance. HIV-associated TBM patients with previous anti-TB treatment history and CD4 cell count of less than 100 cells/μl were significantly more prone to develop drug resistance. These findings highlight burdens of anti-TB drug resistance among HIVassociated TBM patients and support the need of elaborative management strategies.