{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T01:44:57Z","timestamp":1783993497640,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,28]],"date-time":"2025-04-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745798400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Rapid and accurate diagnosis of mycobacterial infections is crucial for guiding therapeutic decisions. This study presents the first evaluation of a novel molecular assay, the Mycobacterium RealTime PCR Kit Vircell (MRTVircell), a real-time PCR-based test designed for the specific detection of Mycobacterium\u00a0tuberculosis complex (MTBC), Mycobacterium\u00a0avium complex (MAC), Mycobacterium\u00a0abscessus complex (MABC), and other nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in both respiratory and non-respiratory samples. The evaluation was conducted under routine workflow conditions using 721 clinical specimens, including 559 respiratory and 162 non-respiratory samples. Among these, 5.69% were smear-positive, 6.38% were culture-positive for MTBC, and 9.85% were culture-positive for NTM. The performance of the MRTVircell was compared to both culture results and the Anyplex MTB\/NTM real-time PCR assay. The two PCR systems demonstrated a 96.95% overall concordance rate for the detection of MTBC, NTM, and negative specimens. Based on culture as the reference method, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the MRTVircell for MTBC detection were 80.43%, 99.64%, 94.87%, and 98.41%, respectively, while for Anyplex MTB\/NTM (Seegene), these values were 76.09%, 99.64%, 94.59%, and 98.06%, respectively. For NTM detection, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values were 28.17%, 99.29%, 83.33% and 91.63% for MRTVircell and 21.13%, 99.11%, 75%, and 91.67% for Anyplex MTB\/NTM, respectively. MRTVircell is a rapid and reliable tool for the detection and differentiation of MTBC, MAC, MABC, and other NTM in clinical samples.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14050429","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,29]],"date-time":"2025-04-29T07:49:36Z","timestamp":1745912976000},"page":"429","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Evaluation of the Mycobacterium RealTime Kit Vircell (MRTVircell) Assay for Detecting Mycobacterium Species in Clinical Specimens"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-7954-0642","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Aguilera Franco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Sampedro Padilla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zaid\u00edn Sur Health Center, Andalusian Health Service, Granada Metropolitan District, 18007 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1374-0756","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Francisco","family":"Guti\u00e9rrez-Bautista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Analysis and Immunology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adri\u00e1n","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9203-9628","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fernando","family":"Cobo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6146-9740","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Guti\u00e9rrez-Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1970-8562","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Antonio","family":"Reguera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5227-5167","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jose Mar\u00eda","family":"Navarro Mari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Javier","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Granger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5607","DOI":"10.1099\/ijsem.0.004332","article-title":"List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) moves to the DSMZ","volume":"70","author":"Parte","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. 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