A New Study on (2S, 3S)-1,4-bis-Sulfanylbutane-2,3-diol

The objective of this study was to assess the performance of dithiothreitol ((2S,3S)-1,4-bis-sulfanylbutane-2,3-diol] - NaOH digestion-decontamination procedure versus N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NALC) - NaOH method in detection and recovery of M. tuberculosis in clinical practice. The study was made of two independent procedures. Each procedure used a different specimen processing method. For one procedure, all specimens were processed with DTT - NaOH, and for the other, all specimens were processed with NALC - NaOH. DTT - NaOH specimen processing method was compared with NALC - NaOH method. Processed sediments were split for analysis by fluorescente smear microscopy and by culture using solid media. A total of 823 sputum were processed in the DTT-NaOH procedure of the study and a total of 865 sputum were processed for NALC-NaOH procedure of the study. Statistical comparisons of the procedures were done and the implications of the results are discussed. Dithiothreitol sputum processing significantly increased the smear sensitivity.