Mycobacterium marinum

Abstract

Mycobacterium marinum is a well-known pathogenic mycobacterium for skin and soft tissue infections and is associated with fishes and water. Among nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), it is the leading cause of extrarespiratory human infections worldwide. In addition, there is a specific scientific interest in M. marinum because of its genetic relatedness to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and because experimental infection of M. marinum in fishes mimics tuberculosis pathogenesis. Microbiological characteristics include the fact that it grows in 7 to 14 days with photochromogenic colonies and is difficult to differentiate from Mycobacterium ulcerans and other mycolactone-producing NTM on a molecular basis. The diagnosis is highly suspected by the mode of infection, which is related to the hobby of fishkeeping, professional handling of marine shells, or swimming in nonchlorinated pools. Clinics distinguished skin and soft tissue lesions (typically sporotrichoid or subacute hand nodules) and lesions disseminated to joint and bone, often related with the local use of corticosteroids. In clinical microbiology, microscopy and culture are often negative because growth requires low temperature (30°C) and several weeks to succeed in primary cultivation. The treatment is not standardized, and no randomized control trials have been done. Therapy is a combination of surgery and antimicrobial agents such as cyclines and rifampin, with successful outcome in most of the skin diseases but less frequently in deep tissue infections. Prevention can be useful with hand protection recommendations for professionals and all persons manipulating fishes or fish tank water and use of alcohol disinfection after contact.

Mycobacterium marinum produces distinct mycobactin and carboxymycobactin siderophores to promote growth in broth and phagocytes

“…Mycobacterium marinum is a human pathogen of moderate concern (Aubry, Mougari, Reibel, & Cambau, ) and a close relative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis , the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB). TB is the worldwide prevalent cause of death from a single pathogen, resulting in 1.6 million people killed in 2017 alone.…”

Heat‐inactivated Mycobacterium bovis protects zebrafish against mycobacteriosis

“…Animal TB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis and other closely related members of the MTC, is a typical multihost infection thriving at the wildlife–livestock interface and affecting animal production and wildlife management and conservation worldwide (Gortazar et al., ). Mycobacterium marinum and other related species are the causative agents of fish mycobacteriosis, a common bacterial disease in many species of freshwater and marine fish affecting wild fish, aquaculture and ornamental fish (Aubry, Mougari, Reibel, & Cambau, ; Decostere, Hermans, & Haesebrouck, ; Jacobs, Stine, Baya, & Kent, ; Myllymäki, Bäuerlein, & Rämet, ; Ostland et al., ). Furthermore, outbreaks of mycobacteriosis caused by M. marinum occur in zebrafish research facilities (Mason et al., ).…”

“…In addition, M. bovis and other members of the MTC and M. marinum and other Mycobacterium spp. infecting fish are potentially zoonotic (Aubry et al., ; Gauthier, ; Lehane & Rawlin, ; Parent, Salam, Appelbaum, & Dossett, ; Tchornobay, Claudy, Perrot, Levigne, & Denis, ; Thirunavukkarasu, Plain, de Silva, Marais, & Whittington, ; Vazquez & Sobel, ).…”

“…The zebrafish Danio rerio (Hamilton, 1822) has become an excellent model organism for studies of vertebrate biology, genetics, development, diseases and drug screening (Nowik et al, 2015). In particular, adult zebrafish have recently emerged as a useful model for studying the complex pathophysiology of mycobacterial infection, based on the similarities between the infection with the natural fish pathogen, M. marinum and M. tuberculosis in humans (Aubry et al, 2017;Cronan & Tobin, 2014;van Leeuwen, van der Sar, & Bitter, 2015;Myllymäki et al, 2016;Ramakrishnan, 2013). The main advantages of the zebrafish-M. marinum model are the immune response and granuloma formation, which resemble those seen in human TB and have not been easily reproduced in the traditional animal models (van Leeuwen et al, 2015;Myllymäki et al, 2016).…”

Cutaneous Mycobacterial Infections

“…M. marinum is a slowly growing pigmented organism responsible for "fish tank granuloma" due to its ability to cause localized skin and soft tissue infections in individuals with exposure to contaminated freshwater or salt water (24,42,120). Disease caused by M. marinum is associated with minor to moderate skin infections presenting as granulomatous lesions similar to those caused by M. tuberculosis or M. haemophilum.…”