title: [Studies on tubercle bacilli and their contaminant bacteria in the sputum of pulmonary tuberculosis after chemotherapy ].
abstract: Growth activity and morphological changes of tubercle bacilli under prolonged chemotherapy were examined in the sputa of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Special attention was paid to the growth activity and pathogenicity of smear-positive and culture-negative bacilli. In addition, the incidence of tubercle bacilli and contaminant bacteria in the sputa was also followed during the prolonged chemotherapy. 1) One case out of about 70 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis showed persistent smear-positive and culture-negative bacilli in the sputa over a period of 15 month. The bacilli were successfully cultured on the Kirchner medium fortified with calf sera. The harvested bacilli were injected into guinea pig for their pathogenicity. However, no macroscopic changes were observed with the tuberculin test remaining negative. 2) Tubercle bacilli disappeared from the sputa of most patients who had received chemotherapy over a period ranging from several weeks to month. Contaminant bacteria were usually recovered from sputa containing less tubercle bacilli. In sputa rich in tubercle bacilli contaminant bacteria were sparse, but as the tubercle bacilli decreased by chemotherapy, so increased reciprocally the bacteria which were shown to be resistant to anti-tuberculosis drugs used.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003470:Culture Media; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000254:growth & development; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000254:growth & development; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media