A polymerase chain reaction for the specific detection of mycobacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was developed. Using a single primer pair derived from the nucleotide sequence of protein antigen b of M. tuberculosis, we achieved specific amplification of a 419-base-pair DNA fragment in M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. After DNA was extracted from mycobacteria by using a s...

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections pose a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We report two cases of such infection of the spine in HIV-negative patients who presented with deformity and neurological deficit. The histopathological features in both specimens were diagnostic of tuberculosis. The isolates were identified as Mycobacterium intracellulare and M. fortuitum by genot...

The objective of the current study was to compare two rapid methods, the BBL Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT TM) and Biotec FASTPlaque TB TM (FPTB) assays, with the conventional Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) media assay to diagnose mycobacterial infections from paucibacillary clinical specimens. For evaluation of the clinical utility of the BBL MGIT TM and FPTB assays, respiratory tract speci...

Autophagy is a lysosomal degradative process that plays essential functions in innate immunity, particularly, in the clearance of intracellular bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The molecular mechanisms involved in autophagy activation and targeting of mycobacteria, in innate immune responses of macrophages, are only partially characterized. Autophagy targets pathogenic M. tuberculos...

Mycobacterium kansasii is a slow growing acid-fast non-tuberculosis mycobacterium. It most commonly causes pulmonary disease with tuberculosis-like manifestations. Mycobacterium kansasii-induced skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are very uncommon, especially in the absence of obvious risk factors. In this report, we present a rare case of M. kansasii-associated SSTI complicated by tendoni...

Abstract DNA is basically an intracellular molecule that stores genetic information and carries instructions for growth reproduction in all cellular organisms. However, some bacteria, has additional roles outside the cells as extracellular (eDNA), which essential component of biofilm formation hence antibiotic tolerance. Mycobacteria include life-threating human pathogens, most are slow growers...

Tuberculosis and other mycobacteriosis are serious illnesses which control is based primarily in early diagnosis. In addition to clinical suspicion, a fundamental support in diagnosis is the staining of clinical samples with gender-specific colors. However, these techniques are not very sensitive so many times we must await the results of culture, which can take up to 2 months. We have develope...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify mycobacterial DNA sequences in uncultured clinical specimens. Two oligonucleotide primers derived from the sequence of a gene that codes for the 65-kilodalton antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis amplified DNA from all 11 species of mycobacteria tested. Amplified DNAs of nontuberculosis mycobacteria were found to be approximately 20 to 4...