Mycobacterial L-forms are found in cord blood: A potential vertical transmission of BCG from vaccinated mothers.
Our previous studies showed that mycobacterial L-forms persist in the blood of BCG vaccinated people and that BCG vaccine is able to produce, under appropriate conditions, filterable, self-replicating L-bodies with virus-like size. Because filterability is one of the characteristics of L-forms, considerable interest has been shown in their capacity to cross the maternal-fetal barrier. The current study demonstrated isolation of mycobacterial L-form cultures from umbilical cord blood of 5 healthy newborns of healthy mothers vaccinated previously with BCG. The isolated cultures showed distinctive growth characteristics of cell wall deficient L-form bacteria. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated presence of L-bodies with extremely small size of 100 nm and revealed morphological transformations, typical for L-forms. IS6110 Real Time PCR assay confirmed that all L-form isolates were of mycobacterial origin and belonged to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex which includes vaccinal BCG substrains. In conclusion, we could suggest that reproductive filterable L-bodies of BCG origin are able to fall in blood circulation of the fetus by vertical transmitted pathway and colonize newborns.
a Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences , Sofia , Bulgaria.
Nadya
N
Markova
a Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences , Sofia , Bulgaria.
Georgi
G
Slavchev
b Medical University , Sofia , Bulgaria.
Ljubomir
L
Djerov
b Medical University , Sofia , Bulgaria.
Asen
A
Nikolov
c Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction , Sofia , Bulgaria.
Tanya
T
Dimova
D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007740:L Forms / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
D001500:BCG Vaccine
BCG; L-forms; cord blood; mycobacteria; newborns