background and objectives: mycoplasma arthritidis mitogen (mam) superantigen has been shown to induce chronic arthritis, which resembles human rheumatoid arthritis (ra) in a rodent model. however, its role as a causative agent in human ra is not well understood yet. the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of mam superantigen gene in the synovial fluid (sf) of ra patients. material...

A prospective study was performed on 93 children admitted to Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal and TMA Pai Rotary Hospital of Udupi and Karkala. Blood samples from 93 children admitted to the ward with no respiratory illness were taken as age-matched controls for the inpatients, IgM antibody against Mycoplasma pneumoniae was detected using a commercial kit (Virion-Serion ELISA, Germany...

In Mycoplasma pneumoniae and several other mollicutes, the UGA opal codon specifies tryptophan rather than a translation stop. This often makes it difficult to express Mycoplasma proteins in heterologous hosts. In this work, we demonstrate that mollicute proteins can be fused to an affinity tag and be expressed directly in M. pneumoniae. The protein can then be purified by affinity chromatograp...

A nested PCR specific for the Mycoplasma pneumoniae P1 gene was used to diagnose mycoplasma infection in two cohort patients with severe pneumonia within 24 h of tissue receipt. A postmortem diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection was obtained for the first patient, who died without the collection of appropriate paired samples for serodiagnosis. An open-lung biopsy obtained from the second patient...

We describe a 10 year old boy with organising pneumonia associated with acute Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. The diagnosis of organising pneumonia was made by open lung biopsy and the M pneumoniae infection was proven serologically. Antibiotic and long term corticosteroid treatment resulted in steadily improving pulmonary function monitored by spirometry. The introduction of anti-inflammatory...

Monkey, rat, and chicken tracheal epithelial cells, as well as monkey, rat, guinea pig, and chicken erythrocytes, adsorbed firmly to colonies of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and M. gallisepticum. Colonies of M. pulmonis also adsorbed erythrocytes but with less avidity than M. pneumoniae or M. gallisepticum; unlike the latter organisms, M. pulmonis did not adsorb tracheal epithelial cells. Colonies of ...

We read with great interest the data reported by Castilla and Wadowsky about the elimination of a Mycoplasma hominis-like mycoplasma from the TW-183 strain of Chlamydia pneumoniae and its lack of effect on chlamydial infection of HEp-2 cells (1). We recently described detection of Mycoplasma fermentans, M. hominis, and M. hyorhinis in several strains of C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae, the suc...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common causative agent for childhood pneumonia. However, empyema is a rare presentation. We report a case of a previously well child who presented with a right-sided empyema. M. pneumoniae was confirmed serologically with evidence of a four-fold rise in Mycoplasma IgM titre. The empyema required drainage procedures for more than two weeks. The infection resolved with ...