Genetic Diversity Using Spoligotyping Method in the Case of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Certain Localities of West Region of Cameroon

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem. In 2016, an estimated 10.4 million people developed TB and 1.8 million died from the disease. TB epidemiology in Cameroon has so far largely consisted of reporting the number of cases detected and their demographic data. The present study investigates the genetic diversity among <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> complex circulating in the west region of Cameroon and analyzes the relationship between genotypes and epidemiology situation of patient. Spoligotyping was performed by PCR-amplification followed by the reverse hybridization of 120 cultured specimens and were identified by comparison to reference strains in SITVIT database. <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> was the only species identified. LAM10_CAM and T1 families were the most prevalent genetic families with 43.33% and 31.66% respectively. No association was found between genotypes with HIV serostatus. However, there was a significant association between genotypes and the gender also between genotypes and Patients age. Patients with age above 35 were more likely infected by LAM10_CAM strains, and belong genotypes and locality where the patients of Dschang were more likely infected by T1 strain. Population structure of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> complex strains from the West region of Cameroon was found to be diverse and the Share Type 61 from the LAM10_CAM family was highly predominant.