Abstract: Nontuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM) defined as any mycobacterial strain other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and Mycobacterium leprae. In recent years, the detection rate of NTM infection has been increasing year by year with the increasing prevalence of AIDS, organ transplantation and the use of immunosuppressive agents. At present, the common methods for NTM identification include acid-fast staining, culture, PNB (p-nitrobenzoic acid) growth test, PCR, qPCR and other molecular biological identification, immunological identification and drug sensitivity methods. In this paper, the update of non-tuberculous mycobacterium detection methods and the characteristics of each method is reviewed, in order to provide reference for the identification of strains of NTM infectious diseases.

Key words: Non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM), detection and identification, PCR