A total of 123 patients with moderately advanced, cavitary lung disease caused by Mycobacterium avium complex untreated previously received different regimens of antituberculosis agents. The rate of sputum conversion (continuously negative cultures for six months or more) was compared among the regimens. It was shown that the regimens of rifampin + isoniazid + streptomycin and rifampin + isonia...

Arylsulfatase activities (96-h reaction) of various strains of Mycobacterium avium and M. intracellulare, as identified by a DNA probe test, were measured. The enzyme activities of M. avium strains were significantly lower [corrected] than those of M. intracellulare strains (P less than 0.005 to P less than 0.025). The enzyme activities did not vary with serovar; that is, the activities of sero...

Mycobacterium avium causes chronic and progressive respiratory infection. A therapeutic regimen including clarithromycin, rifampin and ethambutol has been commonly employed, however, the effect of such antibacterial therapy is often unsatisfactory. Doxycycline is an antibiotic known to have immuno-modulating effects as well as antibacterial activity. In this study, we investigated the effect of...

AIM The performance of Bruker Biotyper matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) in identifying species of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in flagged Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tubes (MGIT)s is unclear. MATERIALS & METHODS A total of 92 sequential MGIT-positive nontuberculous mycobacteria isolates, including Mycobacterium intracellulare, ...

Repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) is useful for generating DNA fingerprints of diverse bacterial and fungal species. Rep-PCR amplicon fingerprints represent genomic segments lying between repetitive sequences. A commercial system that electrophoretically separates rep-PCR amplicons on microfluidic chips, and provides computer-generated readouts of results has been adapted for use with Myc...

This paper describes the evaluation of a newly developed DNA probe for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. DNA probe PCR278 is a 278 bp fragment obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 5'-region of IS900, an insertion element contained in the genome of M paratuberculosis. This DNA probe can specifically distinguish M paratuberculosis from a wide range of other organisms, in...

Fluorescent acid-fast microscopy (FAM) was used to enumerate intracellular Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare, and Mycobacterium scrofulaceum in the ciliated phagocytic protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis. There was a linear relationship between FAM and colony counts of M. avium cells both from cultures and within protozoa. The Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast stain could not be used to enum...

OBJECTIVE To develop a simulation model to project costs, life expectancy, and cost-effectiveness in discounted dollars per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) saved for clinical strategies to prevent Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) in patients with AIDS. METHODS We used natural history data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, efficacy and toxicity data from randomized clinical trials, an...

Attachment and ingestion of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis by two epithelial cell lines were enhanced by soluble fibronectin (FN). Peptide blocking of the FN attachment protein (FAP-P) inhibited the internalization of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Disruption of FAP-P expression significantly reduced attachment and ingestion of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis by T-24 and Caco-2...

Although Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is the most common pathogen in nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary diseases, endobronchial lesions caused by MAC infections are very rare even in an immunocompromised host. Herein, we describe the case of a 59-year-old, HIV-negative and non-immunocompromised woman who developed multifocal pulmonary infiltrations with endobronchial lesion cause...