Avian tuberculosis was diagnosed in a captured female Ruppell’s griffon vulture (Gyps ruppellii) with granulomatous splenitis and hepatitis. At necropsy, whitish to yellow nodules of various sizes were found in the spleen and liver, and fibrinous coelomitis was present in the body cavity. Histopathologically, the granulomas appeared to be typical of avian tuberculosis. In some granulomas, necro...

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...

To investigate the role of chemokines during the initial local response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the human lung, we studied chemokine production by the human alveolar epithelial cell line A549 after infection with M. tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis-infected A549 cells produced mRNAs and protein for monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) but not mRNAs for macrophag...

The antimycobacterial activity of (-)-cubebin (1), hinokinin (2), and some of their semisynthetic derivatives, namely (-)-O-acetyl-cubebin (3), (-)-O-methyl-cubebin (4), (-)-O-(N,N-dimethylamine-ethyl)-cubebin (5) and (-)-6,6'-dinitrohinokinin (6), was evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (ATCC 27294), M. kansasii (ATCC 12478), and M. avium (ATCC 15769). The MIC values ranged from 31.25...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected macrophages demonstrate diminished capacity to present antigens via class II MHC molecules. Since successful class II MHC-restricted antigen presentation relies on the actions of endocytic proteases, we asked whether the activities of cathepsins (Cat) B, S and L-three major lysosomal cysteine proteases-are modulated in macrophages infected with pathogenic Myc...

The Roche LightCycler mycobacterium detection molecular assay for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. avium, and M. kansasii, was applied to tissue specimens. It performed well on lymph node and cerebrospinal fluid specimens and less well on lung, liver, and bone marrow core biopsy specimens, but used in conjunction with a clinical suspicion of tuberculosis, it could augment patient management.

STUDY OBJECTIVES The detection of Mycobacterium sp on a culture remains the "gold standard" technique for the diagnosis of mycobacterial infections. A small percentage of these cultures, however, may be contaminated by other nonfastidious microorganisms, making accurate diagnosis difficult. We evaluated the use of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol that was specific for the genus Mycoba...

We compared the in vitro antimycobacterial activity of a new fluoroquinolone, HSR-903, with strong activity against gram-positive cocci with those of levofloxacin (LVFX), sitafloxacin (STFX), and gatifloxacin (GFLX). The MICs of the quinolones for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium complex were in the order STFX approximately GFLX < LVFX <== HSR-903 and STFX <== GFLX <== HSR-903...

ESAT-6 (for 6-kDa early secreted antigenic target) is a secreted antigen found almost exclusively in organisms of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. We compared in vitro gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) responses by peripheral blood mononuclear cells to this antigen in patients with pulmonary disease due to either Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) or Mycobacterium tuberculosis with those in he...

Infrequent restriction site amplification (IRS-PCR) is a method of amplifying DNA sequences, which flank an infrequent restriction site, and produces a strain-specific electrophoretic pattern. We studied the use of IRS-PCR to characterize Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobactria (NTM). One-hundred and sixteen M. tuberculosis and nine NTM isolated at Hanyang University Hospital...