Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare Infections in Patients with and without AIDS

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 160; no. 6; pp. 1037 - 1041
• Main Authors: Guthertz, Linda S., Damsker, Beca, Bottone, Edward J., Ford, Eleanor G., Midura, Thaddeus F., Janda, J. Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.12.1989; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - complications; Adult; Aged; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Disease susceptibility; Epidemiology; Female; Fungal diseases; Fungal infections; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infections; Major Articles; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium; Mycobacterium avium; Mycobacterium avium complex; Mycobacterium avium Complex - classification; Mycobacterium avium Complex - drug effects; Mycobacterium avium Complex - isolation & purification; Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection - complications; Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection - epidemiology; Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection - microbiology; Mycobacterium intracellulare; RNA Probes; Serotyping; Species Specificity; USA, California; Infection; Mycobacteriales; Viral disease; Mycobacteriaceae; Bacteriosis; Mycobacterium avium; Bacteria; AIDS; Actinomycetes; Mycobacterium intracellulare
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/160.6.1037

A genetic probe (Gen-Probe) was used to evaluate potential epidemiologic and susceptibility differences of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) strains isolated from 154 patients with and without the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Genetic analysis revealed that 98% of the 45 patients with AIDS harbored only M. avium regardless of the anatomic or geographic source of the isolate; in contrast, ∼40% of MAC isolates recovered from 109 patients without AIDS were M. intracellulare. Most M. intracellulare of respiratory origin recovered from patients without AIDS were involved in infectious processes. When 95 MAC isolates (M. avium, n = 53; M. intracellulare, n = 42) were evaluated for in vitro susceptibility to primary or secondary antimycobacterial drugs, significant differences were noted. M. intracellulare was more susceptible to streptomycin, rifampin, and ethambutol than M. avium; the converse was true for ethionamide. The results of this study suggest potentially important differences in disease spectrum and in vitro susceptibility profile for M. avium and M. intracellulare.