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Rev Med Inst Mex Seguro Soc 2019 Jan 28;56(5):456-461. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Secretaría de Salud, Hospital General de México “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga”, Unidad de Neumología y Cirugía de Tórax. Ciudad de México, México

Background: Tuberculosis is a global public health problem, especially in emerging countries. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the main cause of cervical lymphadenopathy; nontuberculous mycobacteria are relatively common in children and rare in adults.

Objective: To identify and establish the frequency of infectious etiology by nontuberculous mycobacteria in Mexican adult patients with cervical lymphadenopathy. Read More

BMC Pulm Med 2019 Feb 15;19(1):41. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Background: Pulmonary carcinoids are included in the group of neuroendocrine tumors (NET) and derive from pulmonary neuroendocrine cells. The incidence of these tumors is increasing, but disease awareness remains low among clinicians. The synchronous presentation of lung cancer and mycobacterial infection is well known but the combination of pulmonary carcinoid and mycobacterial infection is rare. Read More

Nutrients 2019 Feb 5;11(2). Epub 2019 Feb 5.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06351, Korea.

As microbiological diagnostic techniques improve and the frequency of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) infection increases worldwide, NTM-PD is becoming increasingly important to clinicians and researchers. Vitamin activity has been associated with the host immune response in tuberculosis; however, such information is very limited in NTM-PD. We performed a case-control study in 150 patients with NTM-PD and 150 healthy controls to investigate serum vitamin status. Read More

Med Princ Pract 2019 Feb 14. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Objective: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) often cause disease that is clinically indistinguishable from tuberculosis. Specific identification is important as treatment varies according to Mycobacterium species causing the infection. This study used multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay for rapid differentiation of mycobacterial growth indicator tube 960 system (MGIT) cultures as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) or NTM together with INNO LiPA Mycobacteria v2 assay (LiPA) and/or PCR-sequencing of rDNA for species-specific identification of selected MTB and all NTM isolates in Kuwait. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019 Feb 14;13(2):e0007083. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Infectious Disease Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.

Seemingly innocuous nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species, classified by their slow or rapid growth rates, can cause a wide range of illnesses, from skin ulceration to severe pulmonary and disseminated disease. Despite their worldwide prevalence and significant disease burden, NTM do not garner the same financial or research focus as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this review, we outline the most abundant of over 170 NTM species and inadequacies of diagnostics and treatments and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of currently available in vivo animal models of NTM. Read More

J Clin Microbiol 2019 Feb 13. Epub 2019 Feb 13.

Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause severe opportunistic infections and have a rising incidence in most settings. Rising diagnostic need must be met by national reference laboratories, which rely on Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline approved manual readout of microtiter plates for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) to determine antibiotic minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Interpretation of these plates leads to different outcomes between laboratories. Read More

Future Microbiol 2019 Feb 13. Epub 2019 Feb 13.

Postgraduate Program in Bioscience & Physiopathology, Department of Clinical Analysis & Biomedicine, State University of Maringa, Parana, Brazil.

Aim:  To evaluate (i) the in vitro activity of eugenol (EUG) and three derivatives against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and other bacteria, (ii) the EUG and antituberculosis drugs combinatory effect and (iii) the EUG and its derivatives cytotoxicity.

Materials & Methods:  Minimum inhibitory concentration of the compounds were determined by resazurin microtiter or broth microdilution assay and the drug interaction between EUG and antituberculosis drugs by resazurin drug combination microtiter. The cytotoxicity was carried out in macrophages, HeLa and VERO cells. Read More

Pulmonology 2019 Feb 8. Epub 2019 Feb 8.

Pulmonology Department, Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho Hospital Centre, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; EPI Unit, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Public Health, Forensic Sciences and Education, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.

J Infect Public Health 2019 Feb 6. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

CNRS, INRA, UMR 8207-UMET-PIHM, Université de Lille, 369 rue Jules Guesde, CS 20039, 59651, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.

Background: Mycobacterium spp. are responsible for several diseases, particularly in immunocompromised populations. The spreading of the resistance to antimycobacterial drugs is a significant problem to the public health and requires to find out a new and innovative alternative for the treatment of drug resistant mycobacterial strains. Read More

Microorganisms 2019 Feb 1;7(2). Epub 2019 Feb 1.

Division of Pulmonology, Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Ave. BRB 822, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

Infection with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is a complication of lung disease in immunocompromised patients, including those with human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis (CF). The most widespread, disease-causing NTM is complex (), which colonizes the lungs as a combination of , , and other mycobacterial species. While combination drug therapy exists for colonization, there is no cure. Read More

Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2019 01 9;114:17-23. Epub 2018 Oct 9.

Microbiology Department, Central Tuberculosis Research Institute RAMS, Moscow, Russia.

The purpose of the present study was to create a real-time PCR test system allowing simultaneous detection of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) both in culture and sputum. NTM cultures (18 strains, 18 species), MTBC cultures (16 strains, 2 species) and non-mycobacterial microorganisms from the collection of the Central Research TB Institute (CTRI) were used for the preliminary evaluation of the test system. 301 NTM cultures from patients with mycobacteriosis were used to assess the sensitivity of the developed test system. Read More

Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2019 01 4;114:127-134. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Núcleo de Pesquisa em Microbiologia Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil. Electronic address:

Mycobacterium avium is an environmental microorganism found in soil and water sources worldwide. It is the most prevalent species of nontuberculous mycobacteria that causes infectious diseases, especially in immunocompromised individuals. This review discusses and highlights key topics about M. Read More

Cancer Epidemiol 2019 Jan 28;59:64-70. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Department of Medical Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, 407, Taiwan; Rong Hsing Research Center for Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan; Ph. D Program in Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) disease have similar symptoms, which makes them difficult to distinguish clinically and leads to the danger of NTM disease being neglected. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of developing mycobacterial disease among cancer patients.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a population-based database. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2019 Feb;98(5):e14281

Department of Internal Medicine.

Previous studies have suggested that development of Mycobacterium kansasii lung disease (MKLD) was associated with COPD, pneumoconiosis, aging, male, immunosuppression, alcohol, malignancy, and certain occupations such as mining and sandblasting. However, previous studies were outdated and used non-comparative statistical methods. We aimed to determine the current risk factors for developing MKLD in Korea by using appropriate statistical techniques. Read More

Clin Exp Immunol 2019 Jan 29. Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Faculty of Medicine, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Lung disease due to nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) occurs with disproportionate frequency in postmenopausal women with a unique phenotype and without clinically apparent predisposing factors. Dubbed "Lady Windermere Syndrome", the phenotype includes low body mass index (BMI), tall stature, and higher than normal prevalence of scoliosis, pectus excavatum and mitral valve prolapse. Although the pathomechanism for susceptibility to NTM lung disease in these patients remains uncertain, it is likely to be multifactorial. Read More

Clin Infect Dis 2019 Jan 28. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

We enrolled 427 human immunodeficiency virus-infected children (median age, 7.3 years), 59.2% severely immunodeficient, with suspected tuberculosis in Southeast Asian and African settings. Read More

J Immunol Res 2018 30;2018:6473629. Epub 2018 Dec 30.

Cellular and Molecular Immunology Unit, Centre for Research and Development of Medical Diagnostic Laboratories (CMDL), Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

Introduction: Anti-interferon-gamma (IFN-) autoantibodies are increasingly recognized as a cause of adult-onset immunodeficiency (AOID) worldwide. These patients are susceptible to various intracellular pathogens especially nontuberculous mycobacteria. Most of the patients have a refractory clinical course. Read More

Biomed Res Int 2018 30;2018:4902941. Epub 2018 Dec 30.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Objective: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause various diseases in humans and animals. Recently, the prevalence of NTM-related disease has been on the rise, becoming an emerging public health problem. The aim of this study was to determine the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of clinical isolates of . Read More

Int J Infect Dis 2019 Jan 24. Epub 2019 Jan 24.

State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. Electronic address:

Objectives: The objective of this study was to conduct a multicentre evaluation of the performance of the biochip assay in the rapid identification of mycobacteria in smear-positive sputum specimens.

Methods: A total of 1751 sputum specimens were obtained from 7 cities in Zhejiang, China. All of the specimens were used for the discrimination of Mycobacterium species using the biochip assay, and the results were compared to the golden standard method of culture, hsp65, 16S rRNA and rpoB sequence analysis. Read More

Surg Case Rep 2019 Jan 23;5(1):11. Epub 2019 Jan 23.

Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan.

Background: Nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) infection in a patient in an immunosuppressed state caused by increased use of immunosuppressive or biological agents is a serious clinical problem. Mycobacterium avium complex is the most common involved pathogen, followed by Mycobacterium abscessus (MABSC), while Mycobacterium kansasii is not a major concern. The rate of infection rate in lung transplant recipients is reported to range from 1. Read More

Front Microbiol 2018 8;9:3184. Epub 2019 Jan 8.

Division of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Bacteria belonging to the genus are predominantly responsible for pulmonary diseases; most notably causes granulomatous pulmonary infections. Here we describe a novel slow growing mycobacterial species isolated from respiratory samples from five patients, four with underlying pulmonary disease. The isolates were characterized by biochemical and molecular techniques, including whole genome sequencing. Read More

Water Res 2019 Apr 14;152:191-201. Epub 2019 Jan 14.

Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; International Center for Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address:

The proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in drinking water and their potential horizontal transfer to pathogenic microbes may cause failure of antibiotics. However, antimicrobial resistome monitoring in drinking water is not currently routine. The bacterial hosts of ARGs, especially small-sized microbes in drinking water, may not be effectively removed by membrane filtration disinfection and thus pose threats to human health. Read More

J Clin Aesthet Dermatol 2018 Dec 1;11(12):48-51. Epub 2018 Dec 1.

Ms. Krooks, Dr. Weatherall, and Dr. Markowitz are with the Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine in Boca Raton, Florida.

A 70-year-old, immunocompetent male presented with mildly painful and pruritic erythematous patches and vesicles on the right dorsal aspect of the distal middle finger present for four weeks. Other skin lesions or systemic symptoms were notably absent. The patient failed to respond to valacyclovir, topical triamcinolone acetonide ointment, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and cephalexin for presumptive diagnoses of recurrent herpetic whitlow, dyshidrotic eczema, and blistering distal dactylitis, respectively. Read More

BMC Pulm Med 2019 Jan 21;19(1):19. Epub 2019 Jan 21.

Microbiology Department, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK.

Background: RGM medium is an agar-based, selective culture medium designed for the isolation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from the sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). We evaluated RGM medium for the detection of NTM in patients with CF (405 samples), bronchiectasis (323 samples) and other lung diseases necessitating lung transplantation (274 samples).

Methods: In total, 1002 respiratory samples from 676 patients were included in the study. Read More

Curr Treat Options Infect Dis 2018 Jun 25;10(2):169-181. Epub 2018 Apr 25.

Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114 USA.

Purpose Of Review: Non-tuberculous mycobacterial [NTM] infections in the hospital setting are a complex and often challenging entity. The goal of this review is to discuss diagnostic and treatment strategies for established as well as emerging nosocomial NTM infections.

Recent Findings: NTM outbreaks have been documented in a variety of hospital settings. Read More

Infect Genet Evol 2019 Jan 14. Epub 2019 Jan 14.

Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Shared Health - Diagnostic Services, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Electronic address:

Seventy years have passed since Ernest H. Runyon presented a phenotypic classification approach for nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), primarily as a starting point in trying to understand their clinical relevance. From numerical taxonomy (biochemical testing) to 16S rRNA gene sequencing to whole genome sequencing (WGS), our understanding of NTM has also evolved. Read More

Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2019 Jan 17. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, School of Medicine, China.

Objective: We use the simultaneous application and testing method to detect Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) rRNA (SAT-TB) with the EBUS-TBNA biopsy specimens to differentiate sputum negative tuberculosis from sarcoidosis.

Methods: In the first part, we validated the SAT-TB on the bronchial or EBUS-TBNA biopsy specimens from sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. In the second part, all the EBUS-TBNA specimens for sputum smear-negative intrathoracic tuberculous lymphadenopathies or sarcoidosis were tested with the SAT-TB, acid-fast bacilli smear and culture . Read More

J Vet Diagn Invest 2019 Jan 13:1040638718824074. Epub 2019 Jan 13.

Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology (Scherrer, Landolt, Friedel), Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

The most commonly used tools for tuberculosis testing in cattle, the tuberculin skin test and the interferon-γ release assay, detect immune reactivity to various antigens of Mycobacterium bovis, including ESAT-6 and CFP-10. However, some non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can also harbor the cfp-10 and/or esat-6 genes, which can lead to false-positive results. We tested 77 NTM isolates belonging to 22 different species from lymph nodes of healthy slaughtered cattle for the occurrence of cfp-10 and esat-6. Read More

Lett Appl Microbiol 2019 Mar;68(3):219-225

Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.

Quantitated Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) H37Rv DNA was used to analyse the sensitivity and the specificity was assessed using DNA isolated from the reference strain H37Rv, 12 nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) species and five nonmycobacterium species. Furthermore, performance of the assay was evaluated on the sputum samples and compared with smear microscopy, culture and PCR. Read More

Front Microbiol 2018 18;9:3140. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Mycobacteriology Laboratory, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, United States.

Accurate and timely mycobacterial species identification is imperative for successful diagnosis, treatment, and management of disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). The current most widely utilized method for NTM species identification is Sanger sequencing of one or more genomic loci, followed by BLAST sequence analysis. MALDI-TOF MS offers a less expensive and increasingly accurate alternative to sequencing, but the commercially available assays used in clinical mycobacteriology cannot differentiate between and , two closely related potentially pathogenic species of NTM that are members of the complex (MAC). Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019 01 7;13(1):e0007074. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

Equipe EA 3593, Ecosystèmes amazoniens et pathologie tropicale, Université de la Guyane, Cayenne, Guyane française.

Background: Zoonotic pathogens respond to changes in host range and/or pathogen, vector and host ecology. Environmental changes (biodiversity, habitat changes, variability in climate), even at a local level, lead to variability in environmental pathogen dynamics and can facilitate their transmission from natural reservoirs to new susceptible hosts. Whilst the environmental dynamics of aquatic bacteria are directly linked to seasonal changes of their habitat they also rely on the ecological processes underpining their transmission. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2019 Jan;98(1):e13951

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, 3-18-22 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is a rare pulmonary complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) with high mortality. Chronic bacterial airway infection (CAI) causes exacerbation and progression of several airway diseases, and bacterial airway colonization was shown to be associated with BOS after lung transplantation.We assessed the association between CAI and clinical course in patients with BOS after HSCT. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019 Jan 3;116(3):835-844. Epub 2019 Jan 3.

Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), University of Coimbra, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal;

Mycobacteria are a wide group of organisms that includes strict pathogens, such as , as well as environmental species known as nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), some of which-namely -are important opportunistic pathogens. In addition to a distinctive cell envelope mediating critical interactions with the host immune system and largely responsible for their formidable resistance to antimicrobials, mycobacteria synthesize rare intracellular polymethylated polysaccharides implicated in the modulation of fatty acid metabolism, thus critical players in cell envelope assembly. These are the 6--methylglucose lipopolysaccharides (MGLP) ubiquitously detected across the genus, and the 3--methylmannose polysaccharides (MMP) identified only in NTM. Read More

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019 Jan 4;67(5152):1428-1429. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2019 Jan 2. Epub 2019 Jan 2.

Department of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pathogens particularly infect patients with structural lung disorders. We previously reported novel indole-2-carboxamides (IC) active against a wide panel of NTM pathogens. This study discloses data for two lead molecules ( and ) that were advanced for efficacy studies in infected mouse models. Read More

Respir Investig 2018 Dec 28. Epub 2018 Dec 28.

Center for Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Keio University School of Medicine, Japan. Electronic address:

Background: As lung cancer development in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease (NTM-LD) has never been reported, we investigated its incidence and clinical characteristics.

Methods: Prospective observational cohort registry (from June 2012 to June 2017), and retrospective identification by the International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision (between March 2010 and March 2018), were used to identify NTM-LD patients aged ≥20 years who developed lung cancer.

Results: Eight patients (two men and six women, one with smoking history), having Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease (MAC-LD) were identified. Read More

PLoS Pathog 2018 12 31;14(12):e1007501. Epub 2018 Dec 31.

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Sciences II, Geneva, Switzerland.

Phagocytic cells capture and kill most invader microbes within the bactericidal phagosome, but some pathogens subvert killing by damaging the compartment and escaping to the cytosol. To prevent the leakage of pathogen virulence and host defence factors, as well as bacteria escape, host cells have to contain and repair the membrane damage, or finally eliminate the cytosolic bacteria. All eukaryotic cells engage various repair mechanisms to ensure plasma membrane integrity and proper compartmentalization of organelles, including the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) and autophagy machineries. Read More

Adv Respir Med 2018 Dec 30. Epub 2018 Dec 30.

Clinical Pneumonology Ward, Medical University od Łódź, Kopcińskiego 22, 90-153 Łódź, Poland.

Introduction: During the last decades the prevalence of NTM infections has increased, especially in developed countries. The aim of the study was to provide an overview on all NTM isolated from clinical samples in Poland between 2013 and 2017.

Material And Methods: The study comprised 2799 clinical specimens, mostly respiratory accessed in the reference laboratory of National Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Institute in Warsaw and in the Wielkopolska Center of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery, Poland, 2013-2017. Read More

BMC Infect Dis 2018 Dec 27;18(1):693. Epub 2018 Dec 27.

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, ARNAS Garibaldi Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy has significantly changed the natural history of HIV infection, leading to a dramatic reduction of HIV-related morbidity and mortality. Late Presenters, Very Late Presenters and AIDS presenters still represent, also in Europe, including Italy, a huge challenge in terms of diagnostic and therapeutic management.

Case Presentation: A 35-year-old male with a history of fever and back pain. Read More

N Engl J Med 2018 Dec;379(26):2558-2565

From the Departments of Medicine (J.E.M., C.J.R.), Radiology (J.S.H.), and Pathology (L.P.H.), Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Departments of Medicine (J.E.M., C.J.R.), Radiology (J.S.H.), and Pathology (L.P.H.), Harvard Medical School - both in Boston.

APMIS 2019 Feb 25;127(2):106-108. Epub 2018 Dec 25.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mycobacterium brisbanense is rapid-growing nontuberculous mycobacteria. It was first described in 2004 as a human pathogen and only one case report has previously been published. We report a case of M. Read More

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2018 Nov 30. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address:

There are no studies evaluating the mechanisms driving linezolid resistance in nontuberculous mycobacteria. The novel mutations G2599A and A2137T in the 23S rRNA gene and mutations A439G and G443A in the rplD gene associated with linezolid resistance were identified in linezolid-resistant M. avium complex isolates. Read More

Rev Argent Microbiol 2018 Dec 19. Epub 2018 Dec 19.

Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (CICVyA/INTA), Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are studied not only for their importance as emerging opportunistic pathogens but also for their applications in biotechnology and bioremediation. Our aim was to determine the occurrence and diversity of mycobacteria in different aquatic habitats of General Pico city, Province of La Pampa. The percentage of samples with positive cultures for mycobacteria were the following: 37. Read More

Transplant Proc 2018 Dec 8;50(10):3937-3939. Epub 2018 Sep 8.

Program in Adult Transplant Infectious Disease, Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Genitourinary (GU) tract infection with Mycobacterium avium intracellulare complex (MAI) is very rare and, to our knowledge, has never been reported in the solid organ transplant literature. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 61-year-old Somali-born woman had a history of liver cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis C infection. She was diagnosed as having and treated for latent tuberculosis infection and GU tract infection due to MAI. Read More

Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul) 2019 Jan;82(1):88-89

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul) 2019 Jan;82(1):15-26

Division of Mycobacterial and Respiratory Infections, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA.

The pathogen complex (MAC) is the most common cause of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease worldwide. The decision to initiate long-term antibiotic treatment is difficult for the physician due to inconsistent disease progression and adverse effects associated with the antibiotic treatment. The prognostic factors for the progression of MAC pulmonary disease are low body mass index, poor nutritional status, presence of cavitary lesion(s), extensive disease, and a positive acid-fast bacilli smear. Read More

Infect Drug Resist 2018 7;11:2521-2532. Epub 2018 Dec 7.

Tuberculosis Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Background: The prevalence of pulmonary disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is reportedly on the rise in the world. Some of the species are resistant to various antibiotics; hence, limited treatment options are available. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of NTM and to determine the effect of d-cycloserine against and isolated from clinical specimens to find out the synergistic effect of d-cycloserine and clarithromycin. Read More

Rev Mal Respir 2019 Jan 17;36(1):57-62. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Université François Rabelais, Inserm U1100, faculté de médecine de Tours, 37000 Tours, France.

Introduction: Mycobacterium avium complex can be responsible for a number of different radio-clinical presentations, ranging from invasive infections to hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to repeated inhalation of antigens. The diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis is clinical, radiological, biological and microbiological.

Case Report: A 61-year-old male developed a hypersensitivity pneumonitis reaction to non-tuberculous mycobacteria, following the repeated use of his own spa, which later evolved into chronic respiratory failure. Read More

Front Microbiol 2018 5;9:2988. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

Center for Genes, Environment and Health, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, United States.

is a multidrug resistant bacterium that causes pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease. The reported prevalence of pulmonary infections appears to be increasing in the United States (US) and around the world. In the last five years, multiple studies have utilized whole genome sequencing to investigate the genetic epidemiology of two clinically relevant subspecies, subsp. Read More

Nat Commun 2018 12 18;9(1):5370. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Experimental Medicine Building, Singapore, 636921, Singapore.

Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical skin disease that is most commonly found in children from West and Central Africa. Despite the severity of the infection, therapeutic options are limited to antibiotics with severe side effects. Here, we show that M. Read More