Aim: The aim of this study was to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in several clinical samples. The clinical samples were stained with Erlich-Ziehl-Neelsen (EZN) method. Then were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the primers specific to IS6110 region of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Material and Methods: In this study, a total of 116 cases (77 samples were cerebrospinal fluid, 13 samples were early morning gastric juice, 10 samples were urine, 5 samples were pleural fluid, and 6 samples were tracheal fluid) suspected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection were studied over 15 months. All samples were stained with EZN method and were subjected to microscobic examination. Thereafter PCR was applied to the samples to determine the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

Results: Fifteen samples (12.3%) were positive when the samples stained with EZN method. However, fourty three samples (34.7%) appeared to be positive after PCR.

Conclusion: Our results indicated that PCR is more sensitive than Ehrlich-Ziehl-Neelseen staining method. PCR is fast, simple and reliable method to detect Mycobacterum tuberculosis in several clinical samples.