title: The relative frequency of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium infections in HIV positive patients, Ahvaz, Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) and Mycobacterium avium (M. avium) infections in HIV-positive patients suspected to have pulmonary and extrapulmonary mycobacterial co-infection using PCR technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  Totally 50 samples comprising sputum, pleural fluid and CSF taken from HIV positive patients suspected to have mycobacterial infection, were processed. The demographic information and results of acid fast staining and culture were recorded for each patient. The PCR for detecting of M. tuberculosis comprised of specific primers targeting IS6110 gene sequence. For detecting of M. avium, PCR with primers that amplifies the mig gene were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 50 samples processed, 45 were sputum (90%), 3 pleural fluid (6%) and 2 CSF (4%). In total, 8 (16%) were culture positive, 7 had positive acid fast staining (14 %) and 13 samples (26%) were positive using PCR technique. All the positive samples were sputum and belonged to patients with pulmonary infection. Of these, 9 were positive for M. tuberculosis (69.2%) and 4 were identified as M. avium (30.8%), which 2 out of 13 positive samples showed mixed infections by both mycobacteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PCR shows the highest detection rate (26%) of mycobacteria compared with culture and acid fast staining. The majority of infections were with M. tuberculosis (18%) and this shows the importance of this mycobacterial co-infection in HIV positive patients in the region of study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Khosravi
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Alavi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashemzade
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abasi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seghatoleslami
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000328:Adult; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015270:Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult