[A method for pre-seeding treatment of biomaterial for mycobacterial isolation]

Ethonium solutions were used as a detergent for the pretreatment of a biomaterial homogenate to isolate mycobacteria. The best results were obtained when 1% ethonium solution was used for these purposes for 30 minutes. The pretreatment of a biomaterial homogenate in this mode increases the rate of mycobacterial isolation and reduces the time of tests. The method may be also effective for the pretreatment of human sputum when it is bacteriologically tested for mycobacterial isolation.