.................................................................................................................. 1 POPULÄRVETENSKAPLIG SAMMANFATTNING ............................................. 3 LIST OF PAPERS ........................................................................................................ 5 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious and transmissible disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and closely related mycobacterial species (M. bovis, M. africanum, and M. microti). These species, obligate pathogens, compose what is known as the M. tuberculosis complex. Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) species are mycobacterial species other than those belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculo...

Tuberculosis and leprosy are two well known mankind diseases that are caused by members of the genus Mycobacterium. When originally named in 1896, this genus contained the leprosy bacillus (Mycobacterium leprae) observed by Armour Hansen in 1874 and the tubercle bacillus (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) observed and cultured by Robert Koch in 1882. As time went by, other bacilli similar to those of...

IMPORTANCE Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections of the skin can be seen in cases of immunosuppression and/or traumatic implantation of contaminated objects. Surgical settings with appropriate sterilization techniques have been immune to these types of infections. We report a case of nosocomially derived infection from a sterile procedure. OBSERVATIONS A woman in her 70s presented with a fa...

The anti-mycobacterial activities of nine series of dicarboxyl and tricarboxyl dendritic amphiphiles with one alkyl, two alkyl, and cholestanyl tails against Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium chelonae, Mycobacterium marinum and Mycobacterium smegmatis have been measured. The dendritic amphiphiles overcame the limited aqueous solubility of natural long-chain fatty acids...

Mycobacterial resuscitation-promoting factors (RPFs) have been of great interest since the discovery that they promote the growth of nonculturable Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells. Yet, their precise role in mycobacterial survival and infection has remained elusive. We performed a chemical screen to identify molecules that show preferential killing of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutant lacking...

Mycobacteria are intracellular pathogens that invade and reside inside the macrophages. Recent advances in controlled delivery systems for vaccines such as liposomes have sparked a renewed interest in their potential application for the prevention of mycobacterial infections. The versatility of liposomes in the incorporation of hydrophilic/hydrophobic components, their non-toxic nature, biodegr...

The efficacy of two mycobacterial homogenization, decontamination and concentration kits, Mycoprosafe and Decomics, were compared. A total of 146 sputum samples were examined in this study; 46 (31.5%) mycobacterial isolates were recovered with Mycoprosafe, while 39 (26.7%) mycobacterial isolates were recovered with Decomics. These results, although very preliminary, indicate that Mycoprosafe an...

A prospective study was undertaken on suspected lymph node TB (LNTB) patients, to evaluate the diagnostic utility of mycobacterial culture of fine needle aspirate (FNA), in comparison with the cytological examination and acid fast staining. Eighty percent of 157 aspirates studied were positive by cytological examination; 18% by ZN smear and 45% were positive by culture. Twelve aspirates which w...

Tuberculosis continues to be a global health threat, with drug resistance and HIV coinfection presenting challenges for its control. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis, is a highly adapted pathogen that has evolved different strategies to subvert the immune and metabolic responses of host cells. Although the significance of peroxisome proliferator-activated recept...