Using two different liquid media and one conventional solid medium, a total of 57 mycobacterial isolates (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, n ‫؍‬ 55; nontuberculous mycobacteria, n ‫؍‬ 2) were recovered from 377 clinical specimens. The rates of recovery of M. tuberculosis were 96.4% with the BACTEC MGIT 960 liquid medium, 92.7% with BACTEC 12B liquid medium, and 81.8% with the Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium. The mean time to detection of M. tuberculosis in smear-positive specimens was 12.6 days for BACTEC MGIT 960 medium, 13.8 days for BACTEC 12B medium, and 20.1 days for LJ medium, and in smear-negative specimens it was 15.8 days for BACTEC MGIT 960 medium, 17.7 days for BACTEC 12B medium, and 42.2 days for LJ medium. The rates of contamination were 3.7, 2.9, and 1.2% for the BACTEC MGIT 960, BACTEC 12B, and LJ media, respectively. In conclusion, the nonradiometric, fully automated 7-ml BACTEC MGIT 960 system can be considered a viable alternative to the semiautomated, radiometric BACTEC 460 TB system.

No abstract

L Lo on ng gi it tu ud di in na al l l lu un ng g f fu un nc ct ti io on n s st tu ud dy y i in n h he et te er ro oz zy yg go ou us s P Pi iM MZ Z p ph he en no ot ty yp pe e s su ub bj je ec ct ts s Total lung capacity and residual volume increased, whereas forced expiratory volume in one second, expiratory flows, diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide, and static transpulmonary pressures decreased in the PiMZ patients. The majority of the controlled functional parameters were found to deteriorate significantly in PiMZ patients during the 10 year period. Trypsin inhibitory capacity in the PiMZ group (mean±SD) was 0.65±0.17 mg·ml -1 as compared to 1.52±0.3 mg·ml -1 in the PiMM group. These changes exceeded the values expected as physiological changes due to ageing.The findings in the present longitudinal study -especially the decrease in elasticity, which is the primary pathophysiological damage in alpha 1 -antitrypsin deficiency -support the concept that the PiMZ phenotype is a risk factor for the development of pulmonary emphysema at younger age than in those without the deficiency.

No abstract

We report the first case of pulmonary tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis subsp. caprae in a captive Siberian tiger, an endangered feline. The pathogen was isolated from a tracheal aspirate obtained by bronchoscopy. This procedure provided a reliable in vivo diagnostic method in conjunction with conventional and molecular tests for the detection of mycobacteria.