Mycobacterium kansasii carrying IS1245, a highly prevalent insertion sequence among Mycobacterium avium isolates, was detected in a mixed culture of M. avium and M. kansasii. The insertion sequence was stable and able to transpose by a replicative mechanism in M. kansasii. These findings may have significant implications for molecular diagnosis and treatment outcome.

We describe a case of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection in a silicone augmented breast of a female patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex. Explantation and treatment with appropriate antibiotics led to resolution of the breast infection.

In 91 patients with bronchiectasis seen over 6 years, a positive mycobacterial culture was obtained in 12 cases (13%). The organisms isolated were Mycobacterium tuberculosis in nine cases, Mycobacterium avium in two cases and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and chelonei were obtained on separate occasions in one case. Computed tomography and/or bronchography showed that the bronchiectatic changes co...

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis causes paratuberculosis, a chronic granulomatous enteritis. Detecting animals with paratuberculosis infections is difficult because the currently available tools have low sensitivity and lack specificity; these tools are prone to generating spurious positive test results caused by exposure to environmental M. avium complex organisms. To generate candi...

Avian mycobacteriosis is usually caused by Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) serovars 1 to 3 (M. avium subsp. avium) and M. genavense (8, 9). In most cases, incidences are sporadic and they rarely refer to intensive farms since modern breeding practices have decreased exposure of birds to the parameters that were traditionally linked to the spread of mycobacterial infections, such as contact wi...

In this contribution, we examined the involvement of the cytokine IL-10 in the progression of experimental murine Mycobacterium avium infections in susceptible BALB/c mice. Addition of anti-IL-10 antibodies in the supernatants of peritoneal macrophages infected with virulent M. avium resulted in a significantly enhanced mycobacteriostatic activity of macrophages. In BALB/c mice infected with th...

Mycobacterium avium was recovered from tobacco, cigarette paper, and cigarette filters. M. avium could also be recovered from cigarette filters after the cigarettes had been smoked.

Reference strains of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) belonging to serovars 1 to 28 were examined with DNA probes (Gen Probe Rapid Diagnostic System for the MAC; Gen Probe Inc., San Diego, Calif.) specific for either M. avium or Mycobacterium intracellulare. This study revealed that the earlier designations of the MAC serovars, in which serovars 1 to 3 and 4 to 28 were regarded as M. avium...

Thirty acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients with mycobacterial bacteremia documented by Du Pont Isolator (Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del.) blood cultures underwent microscopic examination of buffy coat blood smears. Of 30 patients, 14 were culture positive for Mycobacterium avium-Mycobacterium intracellulare complex and 1 was positive for M. tuberculosis. Of 15 culture-positive patients, 1...

Microarray-based comparisons of three Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis isolates, including one sheep strain and two cattle strains, identified three large genomic deletions in the sheep strain, totaling 29,208 bp and involving 24 open reading frames. These deletions may help explain some of the differences in pathogenicity and host specificity observed between the cattle and sheep st...