[Determining dehydrogenase activity as a method of accelerated indication of the viability of Mycobacterium...

A comparative effectiveness of mycobacterial dehydrogenase activity (DHA) determination was studied with the help of the following stains: methylene blue, malachite green and tetrazole derivative--triphenyl tetrazole chloride (TTC). Best result were obtained with TTC tests which allowed a reliable registration of M. tuberculosis culture viability. On the basis of indication of M. tuberculosis viability by DHA, accelerated techniques were developed to determine mycobacterial drug resistance to the main antituberculous preparations and blood bacteriostatic activity. These techniques are available for practical laboratories, economical and safe in work.