Acid-fast microorganisms were isolated from 240 soil samples collected at two areas, Hiroshima, Japan and Seoul, Korea. The biological and biochemical characteristics of the isolated mycobacteria were tested and compared with those of 36 reference mycobacteria Strains. The isolation rate and distribution of these mycobacterial species from soil were compared using three kinds of media with emphasis on the two methods of isolation between the different geographical areas. One Strain from each of the 10 species among atypical mycobacteria isolated from soil in both areas was inoculated into ddY mice and the pathogenicity compared with that of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv up to 6 weeks. Susceptibility of the reisolated acid-fast bacilli to antimycobacterial agents was tested in vitro. Antibody responses against various mycobacterial antigens were tested using lepromatous type and tuberculoid type patient sera by the agar gel immunodiffusion. 1) No significant differences in the distribution of acid-fast bacilli were observed between soil samples from the two regions. 2) Rapid growers were by far the most frequent acid-fast bacilli isolated while no photochromogens were isolated from these soil samples. In addition, a minimal number of fastidious mycobacteria were isolated but not cultivable in subcultures. 3) Some of these soil acid-fast bacilli were capable of inducing only transient bacteriological and pathologic changes in mouse organs. 4) Acid-fast bacilli reisolated from organs of these infected mice were, in general, found to be resistant to antimycobacterial agents. 5) M. scrofulaceum antigen showed a precipitation reaction in agar gel immunodiffusion with the highest number of sera from leprosy patients.
Animal ; Leprosy/immunology ; Mice ; Mycobacteria, Atypical/drug effects ; Mycobacteria, Atypical/isolation & purification* ; Mycobacteria, Atypical/pathogenicity ; Mycobacterium/isolation & purification* ; Mycobacterium Infections/pathology ; Soil Microbiology*

PURPOSE: The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex comprises M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and M. africanum, and causes tuberculosis in humans and animals. Identification of Mycobacterium spp. and M. tuberculosis complex to the species level is important for practical use in microbiological laboratories, in addition to optimal treatment and public health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A novel multiplex PCR assay targeting a conserved rpoB sequence in Mycobacteria spp., as well as regions of difference (RD) 1 and RD8, was developed and evaluated using 37 reference strains and 178 clinical isolates. RESULTS: All mycobacterial strains produced a 518-bp product (rpoB), while other bacteria produced no product. Virulent M. tuberculosis complex strains, M. tuberculosis, M. bovis and M. africanum, produced a 254-bp product (RD1), while M. bovis BCG, M. microti and nontuberculous mycobacteria produced no RD1 region product. Additionally, M. tuberculosis and M. africanum produced a 150-bp product (RD8), while M. bovis and M. bovis BCG produced a 360-bp product (deleted form of RD8). M. microti and nontuberculous mycobacteria produced no RD8 region product. This assay identified all Mycobacterium spp. and all M. tuberculosis complex strains to the species level. CONCLUSION: The multiplex PCR assay of the present study could be implemented as a routine test in microbiology laboratories, and may contribute to more effective treatment and surveillance of tuberculosis stemming from the M. tuberculosis complex.
Animals ; Cattle ; Classification/methods ; DNA Primers ; Genes, Bacterial ; Humans ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Mycobacterium/classification/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/classification/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Species Specificity

A femail patient was presented to our department for a dark red painless mass in the left auricle, which has progressively enlarged for one year. Pathological examination revealed granuloma change. Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA test was positive. Tuberculin test revealed strong positive reaction. This case was diagnosed as tuberculous granuloma.
DNA, Bacterial ; isolation & purification ; Ear Auricle ; microbiology ; pathology ; Female ; Granuloma ; microbiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; isolation & purification ; Tuberculosis ; pathology

BACKGROUND: The combined use of liquid media and solid media is recommended for mycobacterial culture. We evaluated diagnostic performance of combination of BACTEC Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT; Becton Dickinson, USA) and 2% Ogawa media (Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Korea) for recovery of mycobacteria. METHODS: In September 2007, 1,764 specimens from 1,059 patients were cultured with MGIT and Ogawa. Acid fast bacilli (AFB) smear was fluorochrome-stained. The isolates were identified into Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) with PCR using Seeplex TB Detection Kit (Seegene, Korea). Recovery rate, time to detection (TTD), contamination rate, mixed growth rate and species distribution were analyzed. RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-five specimens (13.3%) from 165 patients (15.6%) were positive for mycobacterial culture. Recovery rates of mycobacteria from the group using both media, MGIT only, and Ogawa only were 13.3%, 12.1%, and 7.8%, respectively. While MGIT recovered 98.9% of MTB and 79.7% of NTM, Ogawa recovered 65.9% of MTB and 54.1% of NTM. TTDs of total mycobacteria/MTB/NTM in MGIT and Ogawa were 10.6/11.4/9.7 days and 31/29/33 days, respectively. MGIT TTDs of total mycobacteria/MTB/NTM from AFB-positive specimens were significantly shorter than those of AFB-negative specimens; 8.2/9.5/4.4 days vs 11.6/12.7/10.7 days. Contamination and mixed growth rate of MGIT were 9.6% and 3.7%. Primary culture of Ogawa recovered 1 MTB and 1 NTM among the 170 MGIT-contaminated specimens and 38 mycobacteria among 66 specimens that showed mixed cultures of MGIT. CONCLUSIONS: MGIT warrants sensitive and rapid isolation of mycobacteria. However, the combination of MGIT and Ogawa is more desirable to recover mycobacteria in the case of contaminations or mixed cultures.
*Culture Media ; False Positive Reactions ; Humans ; Mycobacterium/*growth & development/isolation & purification ; Mycobacterium Infections/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/*growth & development/isolation & purification ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sputum/microbiology ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo identify the novel species 'Mycobacterium fukienense' sp. nov of Mycobacterium chelonae/abscessus complex from tuberculosis patients in Fujian Province, China.

METHODSFive of 27 clinical Mycobacterium isolates (Cls) were previously identified as M. chelonae/abscessus complex by sequencing the hsp65, rpoB, 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer region (its), recA and sodA house-keeping genes commonly used to describe the molecular characteristics of Mycobacterium. Clinical Mycobacterium isolates were classified according to the gene sequence using a clustering analysis program. Sequence similarity within clusters and diversity between clusters were analyzed.

RESULTSThe 5 isolates were identified with distinct sequences exhibiting 99.8% homology in the hsp65 gene. However, a complete lack of homology was observed among the sequences of the rpoB, 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer region (its), sodA, and recA genes as compared with the M. abscessus. Furthermore, no match for rpoB, sodA, and recA genes was identified among the published sequences.

CONCLUSIONThe novel species, Mycobacterium fukienense, is identified from tuberculosis patients in Fujian Province, China, which does not belong to any existing subspecies of M. chelonea/abscessus complex.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; China ; epidemiology ; Cluster Analysis ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mycobacterium ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Mycobacterium chelonae ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Alignment ; Tuberculosis ; epidemiology ; microbiology

PURPOSE: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, introduced as a fast and sensitive diagnostic method, is useful in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of in-house PCR assay in the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by comparing PCR results with conventional diagnostic techniques and Cobas Amplicor M. tuberculosis(TM) kit. MATERIALS and METHODS: We retrospectively assessed the diagnostic yield of in-house PCR method employed for the amplification IS6110 sequences in 2,973 specimens. We also compared in-house PCR with Cobas Amplicor M. tuberculosis(TM) kit in 120 specimens collected from June to July 2006. Routine acid-fast stain (AFS) and culture assay were also performed and analyzed. RESULTS: Of 2,973 cases, 2,832 cases (95.3%) showed consistent results between in house PCR, AFS and culture methods, whereas 141 (4.7%) displayed inconsistent results. The sensitivities, specificities, and positive and negative predictive values of each method were as follows: 77.5%, 99.7%, 95.5%, and 98.0%, respectively for PCR; 49.2%, 100%, 100%, and 95.7%, respectively, for AFS method; and 80.7%, 100%, 100%, and 98.3%, respectively, for culture assay. Consistent results between PCR and Cobas Amplicor M. tuberculosis(TM) kit were shown in 109 cases (90.8%). The sensitivities, specificities, and positive and negative predictive values of each method were as follows: 81.3%, 98.9%, 96.3%, and 93.5% respectively for PCR and 71.9%, 100%, 100%, and 90.7%, respectively, for Cobas Amplicor(TM) kit. CONCLUSION: In-house PCR and Cobas Amplicor(TM) kit show high sensitivity and specificity, and are reliable tests in the diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/*genetics/*isolation & purification ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Mycobacterium lentiflavum has recently been described as an emerging human pathogen without regard to the immune status of the host. We herein report on M. lentiflavum isolated from a respiratory specimen of a patient. Although the organism described in this case seems to be a colonizer of a lung destroyed by tuberculosis, the current methods for species identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria have to be re-evaluated so as not to underestimate these organisms.
Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Mycobacterium/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosis/*microbiology/radiography

OBJECTIVETo prepare reference samples of Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP-10) and CFP10-streptavidin fusion proteins (CFP10/SA) for time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA).

METHODSThe CFP10 gene was amplified by PCR from Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv and cloned into pET24b, pET24b-streptavidin (SA) or pET21a-SA expression vectors. The recombinant proteins CFP10, CFP10-SA and SA-CFP10 were expressed in Rosetta cells, purified via nickel affinity chromatography and refolded by dialysis. The sensitivity and stability of the resultant proteins as reference samples were evaluated by double-antibody sandwich TRFIA.

RESULTSCFP10-SA and SA-CFP10 fusion proteins were expressed as inclusion bodies, whereas CFP10 was expressed in a soluble form. The resultant purity of the 3 recombinant proteins all exceeded 95%. TRFIA results showed that CFP-SA fusion protein possessed the best sensitivity (0.02 µg/L) and stability.

CONCLUSIONThe reference samples of CFP10 for TRFIA detection have been successfully prepared and can be used in the development of a diagnostic kit for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; standards ; Fluoroimmunoassay ; methods ; Gene Amplification ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; isolation & purification ; Reference Standards

Nine proteins encoded by Mycobacterium tuberculosis RD1 region are important protective antigens that become absent in long passaging of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They only exist in pathogenic Mycobacteria and are absent in Bacille Calmette-Guerin and environmental Mycobacteria. With good immunogenicities, they may play an important role in the diagnosis and prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This article reviews recent studies on using RD1-encoded proteins as antigens in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis and tuberculous pleurisy.
Antigens, Bacterial ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; physiology ; Tuberculosis ; diagnosis

Bacterial Typing Techniques ; China ; Humans ; Interspersed Repetitive Sequences ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Ribotyping