ABSTRACT
Haemolytic activity of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium bacilli (98) was determined by the method of King et al., 1993. During 3-h incubation, all M. tuberculosis (MTB) isolates (28) and one out of 38 M. avium-intracellulare (MAI) strains, produced a strong contact-dependent haemolysin (CDH). Six MAI strains expressed a weak CDH. One MAI isolate produced a strong and five other MAI strains a weak contact-independent haemolysin (CIH). Two M. bovis BCG strains and 7 M. vaccae strains did not demonstrate haemolytic activity. The persistence of chosen Mycobacterium strains differing by haemolytic activity, in the spleens of infected C57BL/6 mice was examined. Mycobacteria producing a strong CDH (MTB H37Rv, MTB 101/92, MAI 83/93) or CIH (MAI 475/93) survived in the spleens of nonimmunized or M. bovis BCG-immunized mice for longer time than MAI strains expressing weak haemolytic activity or M. bovis BCG vaccine strain.
