The heat shock protein [Hsp] family guides several steps during protein synthesis, are abundant in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and are highly conserved during evolution. The Hsp60 family is involved in assembly and transport of proteins, and is expressed at very high levels during autoimmunity or autoinflammatory phenomena. Here, the pathophysiological role of the wild type [WT] and the p...

INTRODUCTION Many studies have shown epidemiological links between strains isolated in tap water, and those isolated from patients. Molecular methods linked to PCR are more reliable and faster for identification of non- tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). In this study molecular methods were used for identification and typing of NTM. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five hundred ml of 85 water samples was p...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary nocardiosis mimic pulmonary tuberculosis in most clinical and radiological manifestations. In Tanzania, where tuberculosis is one of the major public health threat clinical impact of nocardiosis as the cause of the human disease remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to isolate and identify Nocardia isolates recovered from TB suspects in Northeastern, Tanza...

BACKGROUND Several recent studies have indicated an association between key inflammatory mediators and atherosclerotic diseases. We evaluated whether high levels of antibodies against heat shock proteins and cholesterol (ACHA) predicted cardiovascular (CV) events. METHODS AND RESULTS We used blood samples from the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) study to conduct a nested case-cont...

Bovine tuberculosis (TBB) is a zoonotic disease distributed worldwide and is of great importance for public health and the livestock industry. Several experimental vaccines against this disease have been evaluated in recent years, yielding varying results. An example is the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, which has been used extensively in humans and tested in cattle showing mixed resul...

Previous studies have established the presence of high numbers of activated T lymphocytes and "aberrant" expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens by endothelial and smooth muscle cells in human atherosclerotic lesions, implicating the involvement of a local cellular immune response. The identity of the antigen(s) eliciting this immune response, the extent of their effect...

Immunization of Lewis rats with heat-killed Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra leads to development of polyarthritis (adjuvant-induced arthritis; AA) that shares several features with human rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Immune response to the 65-kDa mycobacterial heat-shock protein (Bhsp65) is believed to be involved in induction of AA as well as in experimental modulation of this disease. However, ...

INTRODUCTION Rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) are ubiquitous and are usually considered as saprophytes, and have been recovered from the environment, particularly in dust, watery soil and water distribution systems. However, Mycobacterium massiliense is a rare causative agent of ocular infection. CASE PRESENTATION We report a case of M. massiliense in a 44-year-old female with signs and sym...