International Journal of Mycobacteriology

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is broadly classified into pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB. Skeletal TB is considered to be a form of extrapulmonary TB whose incidence is around 1% of all forms of TB. The incidence of spinal TB is more than 50% of the entire skeletal TB. METHODS: A total of 92 consecutive patients, treated over a period of 2 years (January 2021-January 2023), are retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: In our study, out of 92 patients, the pain had subsided in 90% of cases, and 12 patients showed improvement in motor power postoperatively...

BACKGROUND: The lepromatous leprosy (LL) disease is caused by Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis which is characterized by inadequate response to treatment, a propensity to drug resistance, and patient disability. We aimed to evaluate current immunomodulatory medicines and their target proteins collectively as a drug repurposing strategy to decipher novel uses for LL. METHODS: A dataset of human genes associated with LL-immune response was retrieved from public health genomic databases including the Human Genome Epidemiology Navigator and DisGeNET...

BACKGROUND: To combat the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, the development of a better and faster diagnosis or more effective vaccine is essential. Pulmonary TB (PTB) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis of TB is difficult. Serological assays have been performed with several antigens of laboratory strains such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv which have not been found to be highly sensitive. In the present study, various peptides were synthesized which were predicted on the basis of immunoreactivity and differential expression in clinical isolates of M...

Globally, extensive drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a major element to cause morbidity and death among tuberculosis patients. The present study identifies the vital risk variables contributing to XDR-TB prevalence in India. Scopus, PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases were searched thoroughly for the articles, using medical subject heading as a key term published between the years 2012 and 2022. According to the inclusion criteria, 11 publications were selected. Socioeconomic characteristics include employment, educational attainment, undernourishment, and the rest, and demographic factors such as gender, age, and more...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rarest form of spinal infections and is characterized by the presence of pus in the space between the dura mater, and the osseoligamentous confines of the vertebral canal. This can cause spinal injury due to direct compression or local ischemia. The major etiology of SEA is bacterial and tuberculous in endemic regions. The incidence of fungal spinal abscess is relatively low and <5% of SEA is attributable to fungi. We, here, report a case of 77-year-old known patient of chronic renal disease on hemodialysis that presented with low-back pain for 15 days and was subsequently diagnosed with SEA by magnetic resonance imaging, and causative organism was identified as Candida by culture...

We present the case of a drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) manifesting multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) that led to death in an elderly patient during the intensive phase of antitubercular therapy (ATT). A 74-year-old male developed skin rash (morbilliform), patchy erythematous macules, pustular-purpuric nonblanching spots, fever, lymphadenopathy, liver dysfunction, leukocytosis, and eosinophilia during intensive phase of ATT (ATT: day 45). Laboratory tests revealed hypereosinophilia (eosinophils; 10500/μL), hyperacute fulminant hepatic failure (aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase; 1444/1375 IU/L, total bilirubin; 11...

An 84-year-old man visited our hospital with a high fever. He had cut his right index finger 7 days previously. Blood culture became positive on day 3. Gram staining was negative, and acid-fast staining was positive. The organism was subsequently identified as Mycobacterium obuense using a MALDI Biotyper. M. obuense was also detected in the soil at the patient's house, suggesting that it had entered his bloodstream through the cut on his finger. He was treated with a combination of imipenem/cilastatin, amikacin, and clarithromycin for 2 weeks...

BACKGROUND: The guidelines for the requirement of Legionella urinary antigen tests on admission for patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia differ in Japan, the United States, and Europe. We aimed to evaluate the association between the timing of Legionella urinary antigen testing and inhospital mortality in patients with atypical pneumonia. METHODS: We identified 654,708 patients with atypical pneumonia from July 2010 to March 2021 using the Japanese national inpatient database...

BACKGROUND: Over the past 10 years, the clinical importance of opportunistic bacteria of the order Actinomycetales has increased significantly. While many problems for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex have been solved, for nontuberculous mycobacteria, some questions remain open. These pathogens have a number of structural features that allow them to persist in the external environment for a long time. METHODS: The main inclusion criteria were cultural characteristics in assessing the growth of microorganisms on solid egg media...

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a bacterium that has historically had a substantial impact on human health. Despite advances in understanding and management of tuberculosis (TB), the disease remains a crucial problem that necessitates ongoing work to discover effective drugs, minimize transmission, and improve global health outcomes. METHODS: The purpose of this study is to use molecular docking and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) analyses to explore the molecular interactions of different proteins that are involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis (HadAB, InhA, KasA, FabD, and beta-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase III) of M...

BACKGROUND: Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease (PD) has rapidly increased globally. The characteristics and comparison of rapidly growing mycobacteria PD (RGM-PD) and slowly growing mycobacteria PD (SGM-PD) are still unclear. METHODS: Our study enrolled 31 NTM-PD patients. Clinical data, including baseline, symptoms, underlying disease, laboratory tests, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) results, radiological images, treatment, and outcome were recorded and analyzed...

BACKGROUND: Fluoroquinolones (FQs) have substantial activity against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBc) by preventing bacterial DNA synthesis through DNA gyrase inhibition. The reference standard for FQ-resistance testing is phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing (pDST) based on growth inhibition of MTBc in drug-containing Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube system (MGIT) media at a critical concentration (CC) that differentiates phenotypically wild-type from nonwild-type MTBc and at a clinical breakpoint that identifies strains that will likely still respond to treatment at higher doses...

BACKGROUND: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly identified as causes of protracted pulmonary infections. Antibiotic susceptibility testing requires microdilution methods, which are often unavailable in laboratories in resource-poor settings. We report cumulative antibiograms for the most frequently isolated clinical pulmonary NTM from Pakistan to inform empiric antibiotic management of initial NTM infections. METHODS: We analyzed data from 2018 to 2022 for the most frequently isolated and clinically relevant NTM isolated from respiratory specimens, i...

BACKGROUND: The nutrient medium effects on the quality of the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectra. The standard library includes spectra of microorganisms of the family Mycobacteriaceae grown on the Lowenstein-Jensen and Middlebrook Media. There are new methods for culturing microorganisms from this group, including inoculation on chromogenic media. METHODS: The study included 240 strains of NTM isolated from patients during tuberculosis examination...

BACKGROUND: Information on genotypic with comparison of phenotypic drug sensitivity test of anti-tuberculosis (TB) has been reported in several studies, which have variable results. The present study aimed to assess the Genotype MTBDRsl version 2.0/Line probe assay (LPA) for the detection of fluoroquinolones (FQ) and aminoglycosides (AMGs) resistance mutations among drug-resistant Mycobacterium TB (MTB) strains and also to compare the patterns of genotypic mutations of gyrA/B, rrs, and eis with mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT 960)...

BACKGROUND: Fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics are among the most potent second-line antitubercular drugs these days. The aim of the study was to analyze the frequency and pattern of genetic mutation in preextensive (pre-XDR) and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis using second-line line probe assay (LPA) and to compare drug-resistant mutations with different treatment outcomes. METHODS: Sputum, lymph node aspirate, and cold accesses from patients with rifampicin-resistant Tuberculosis (TB) were subjected to first-line and second-line LPA (Genotype MTBDRsl by Hain Life Science, Germany) to assess additional drug resistance to fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin and moxifloxacin)...

BACKGROUND: The immunomodulatory effects of Vitamin D expand to induce the synthesis of an antimicrobial peptide, cathelicidin. There is evidence showing altered levels of cathelicidin in tuberculosis (TB). It has been suggested that Vitamin D-mediated antimicrobial activity depends on its ability to induce cathelicidin. The present study was designed to assess the alterations in serum anti-microbial peptide cathelicidin and 25-hydroxy Vitamin D levels in patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary TB at different treatment times and to study the association between serum Vitamin D levels and cathelicidin...

BACKGROUND: Making a preliminary diagnosis using X-ray methods for the study of resistant and resistant tuberculosis (TB) will help to make a preliminary diagnosis and determine further tactics for the treatment of TB, even with limited resources for microbiological diagnosis of drug resistance of TB. The present study was aimed at identifying chest X-ray differences between susceptible and resistant TB. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of data from all consecutive patients with culture-confirmed pulmonary TB admitted during the year to the Kharkiv TB Dispensary No...