title: Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare infections in patients with and without AIDS.
abstract: 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, approximately 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.
authors.affiliation: Microbial Diseases Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley 94704.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Guthertz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Damsker
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Bottone
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Midura
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Janda
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015270:Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015347:RNA Probes; D012703:Serotyping; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D015347:RNA Probes