This study was designed to find out the impact of the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) of the tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFRSF1B) on pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) risk in an Iranian population. This case-control study was done on 159 PTB patients and 158 healthy subjects. Bi-allelic TNFRSF1B VNTR was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction. Logistic regression analysis revealed no...

Structural genetic variants as short tandem repeats (STRs) are not targeted in SNP-based association studies and thus, their possible association signals are missed. We systematically searched for STRs in gene regions known to contribute to total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in two independent studies (KORA F4, n = 2553 and SAPHIR, n = 1648), resulting i...

Strain typing using variable-number tandem repeats of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRU-VNTR) is a powerful tool for studying the epidemiology and genetic relationships of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. For this study, isolates from 291 patients in Singapore were genotyped by this method. One hundred sixty-six distinct MIRU-VNTR patterns were detected. One hundred sixty-tw...

BACKGROUND Streptococcus uberis is a common cause of bovine mastitis and recommended control measures, based on improved milking practice, teat dipping and antibiotic treatment at drying-off, are poorly efficient against this environmental pathogen. A simple and efficient typing method would be helpful in identifying S.uberis sources, virulent strains and cow to cow transmission. The potential ...

Coxiella burnetii is the etiologic agent of Q fever, a worldwide distributed zoonosis, accountable for serious health problem both for humans and animals. The exposure to C. burnetii infected animals and their products is the main risk factor for Q fever in humans. Several outbreaks of Q fever have been described in Poland which sources were recognized to be related to imported animals and thei...

OBJECTIVES To compare M. tuberculosis complex genotypes from representative regions of the Czech Republic in order to estimate changes in strain prevalence and in the extent of imported drug-resistant tuberculosis. METHODS Primary M. tuberculosis complex isolates (n=155) and follow-up isolates (n=15) from 155 patients from the first half of 2004 (98 from Prague, 37 from South Moravia and 35 f...

It is unknown whether MIRU-VNTR (Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit-Variable Number of Tandem Repeat) is associated with drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The purpose of this study was to explore the ability of 24 MIRU loci to predict the drug resistance of Isoniazid (INH), Rifampicin (RFP), Streptomycin (SM), Ethambutol (EMB) and Pyrazinamide (PZA). We collected the drug r...

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causal agent of Johne's disease or paratuberculosis of ruminants and has been associated with Crohn's disease in humans. In this study, the genotypes of MAP obtained so far in South American countries using a combination of the subtyping methods Mycobacterial Interspersed Repeats Units-Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (MIRU-VNTR) and Mul...

Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (BTB), the pathogen responsible for serious economic impact on the livestock sector. In order to obtain data on isolated M. bovis strains and assist in the control and eradication program for BTB, a cross sectional descriptive molecular epidemiology study in the Brazilian Midwest was conducted. Through spoligotyping and 24-loci M...

BACKGROUND We present the first comprehensive analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates circulating in southern Taiwan. In this 9-year population-based study, the TB situation in the Kaohsiung region was characterized by genotypic analysis of 421 MTB isolates. METHODS All 421 isolates of MTB were analyzed by spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing. Drug-resistance patterns were also an...