RESUMEN
Mycobacterium szulgai, described for the first time in 1972, is a rare human pathogen that mainly causes pulmonary non-tubercular mycobacteriosis. We report its isolation and identification from a bronchoalveolar lavage specimen by hsp65 gene sequencing analysis in an HIV-positive patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones Oportunistas Relacionadas con el SIDA/microbiología , Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Chaperoninas/genética , Infecciones por VIH/complicaciones , Linfoma no Hodgkin/complicaciones , Infecciones por Mycobacterium no Tuberculosas/microbiología , Micobacterias no Tuberculosas/aislamiento & purificación , Infecciones Oportunistas Relacionadas con el SIDA/diagnóstico , Proteínas Bacterianas/clasificación , Chaperonina 60 , Chaperoninas/clasificación , Infecciones por VIH/diagnóstico , Seropositividad para VIH , Humanos , Linfoma no Hodgkin/diagnóstico , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Infecciones por Mycobacterium no Tuberculosas/diagnóstico , Micobacterias no Tuberculosas/genética , FilogeniaRESUMEN
The INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria kit has been developed for detecting mycobacteria in liquid and solid cultures through amplification of the 16S-23S rRNA mycobacterial spacer region and the use of species-specific probes. The aim of this study was to verify the possible direct use of the kit on clinical samples. The study was performed retrospectively on a total of 129 specimens (104 pulmonary and 25 extrapulmonary) and the results were compared to those obtained from culture. For pulmonary specimens, the overall clinical sensitivity of INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria kit was 79.5% and its specificity 84.6%. For extrapulmonary samples, the kit had an overall clinical sensitivity of 71.4%. In both cases no false positive results were found.
Asunto(s)
Pulmón/microbiología , Infecciones por Mycobacterium/microbiología , Mycobacterium/aislamiento & purificación , Humanos , Mycobacterium/genética , ARN Ribosómico 16S/genética , ARN Ribosómico 23S/genética , Tiras Reactivas , Estudios Retrospectivos , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN/métodosRESUMEN
Purified recombinant HIV-1 p17 matrix protein significantly increased HIV-1 replication in preactivated peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures obtained from healthy donors. Because HIV-1 infection and replication is related to cell activation and differentiation status, in the present study, we investigated the role played by p17 during the process of T cell stimulation. Using freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we demonstrate that p17 was able to enhance levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha and IFN-gamma released from cells stimulated by IL-2. IL-4 was found to down-regulate IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha, and p17 restored the ability of cells to produce both cytokines. The property of p17 to increase production of proinflammatory cytokines could be a mechanism exploited by the virus to create a more suitable environment for HIV-1 infection and replication. Our data show that p17 exerts its biological activity after binding to a specific cellular receptor expressed on activated T lymphocytes. The functional p17 epitope involved in receptor binding was found to be located at the NH(2)-terminal region of viral protein. Immunization of BALB/c mice with a 14-aa synthetic peptide representative of the HIV-1 p17 functional region (SGGELDRWEKIRLR) resulted in the development of p17 neutralizing antibodies capable of blocking the interaction between p17 and its cellular receptor. Our results define a role for p17 in HIV-1 pathogenesis and contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanism of HIV-1 infection and the development of additional antiviral therapeutic strategies.
