The newly formulated Mycobacterium kansasii AccuProbe was evaluated, and the results obtained with the new version were compared to the results obtained with the old version of this test by using 116 M. kansasii strains, 1 Mycobacterium gastri strain, and 19 strains of several mycobacterial species. The sensitivity of this new formulation was 97.4% and the specificity was 100%. Still, three M. ...

Studies have shown that certain opportunistic pathogenic species of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can be present in distributed drinking water. However, detailed information about NTM population composition in drinking water is lacking. Therefore, NTM communities in unchlorinated drinking water from the distribution system of five treatment plants in the Netherlands were characterized using...

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, ...

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with antibodies to a heat shock puff on drosophila chromosomes. This observation was investigated by immunoblotting using extracts of the Schneider insect cell line and HeLa cells, before and after heat shock. An insect protein of 63 kilodaltons (but no equivalent human protein) was recognised by 21 (46%) of 46 serum samples from patients with AS, one o...

This study aimed to demonstrate that microspheres, used as delivery vehicle of DNA-Hsp65/TDM [plasmid DNA encoding heat shock protein 65 (Hsp65) coencapsulated with trehalose dimycolate (TDM) into PLGA microspheres], are widely spread among several organs after intramuscular administration in BALB/c mice. In general, we showed that these particles were phagocytosed by antigen presenting cells, ...

Slowly growing, scotochromogenic bacteria of a novel Mycobacterium species were isolated from lymph node samples in two children and pulmonary samples in two elderly patients from different regions in the Netherlands as well as from a surface water sample in Zambia. Its 16S rRNA gene, 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer (ITS), hsp65 and rpoB gene sequences are unique in comparison with other my...