PRE-CULTURING TREATMENT OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL IN TUBERCULOSIS TESTING
Keywords:
tuberculosis, M. avium, M. bovis, diagnostics, pathological material, method, formic acid.Abstract
Objective. To develop an optimal method for pre-culturing treatment of pathological material in tuberculosis diagnostics that maximizes the preservation of mycobacterial viability and ensures high inoculation efficiency on nutrient media, as well as sterility of cultures. Methods. Cultural, bacteriological, and pathological. Results. Based on the conducted studies, it was established that using a 0.25% formic acid solution as a decontaminating agent with an exposure time of 15 minutes resulted in the growth of cultures in 100% of inoculated tubes with no growth of non-target microflora. The purity of the isolated cultures was confirmed by microscopy of smears stained by the Ziehl–Neelsen method. At a lower concentration of formic acid (0.2%), contamination of cultures was observed in 10–50% of tubes during pre-culturing treatment of pathological material. Increasing the concentration of formic acid to 0.5% significantly inhibited the growth of mycobacterial cultures while preventing contamination by secondary microflora.
Practical value. The proposed method of pre-culturing treatment of pathological material can be used in veterinary laboratories to improve the efficiency of bacteriological diagnosis of tuberculosis. Its application ensures the isolation of pure mycobacterial cultures in shorter time, increases the reliability of diagnostic results, reduces the risk of contamination, and enables timely diagnosis and implementation of control measures in livestock farms.
Conclusions. The results of the study indicate that the use of a 0.25% formic acid solution with an exposure time of 15 minutes ensures 100% inoculation efficiency of mycobacterial cultures on nutrient media in the absence of non-target microflora growth.
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