Abstract
A clinical isolate from a patient was identified as Mycobacterium chimaera, a recently identified species of nontuberculous Mycobacteria. The biochemical and molecular identity, drug sensitivity and virulence of this isolated strain were investigated. 16S rRNA, the 16S-23S ITS, hsp65 and rpoB were amplified, and their sequence similarities with other mycobacteria were analyzed. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of 22 anti-microbial agents against this isolate were established, and the virulence of the isolate was evaluated by intravenous injection into C57BL/6 mice using Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv as a control strain. Growth and morphological characteristics and mycolic acid profile analysis revealed that this isolated strain was a member of the Mycobacterium avium complex. BLAST analysis of the amplified sequences showed that the isolated strain was closely related to M. chimaera. Susceptibility testing showed that the isolate was sensitive to rifabutin, rifapentine, clarithromycin, azithromycin, imipenem and cefoxitin. Bacterial load determination and tissue histopathology of the infected mice indicated that the isolate was highly virulent. The first case of M. chimaera infection in China was evaluated. The information derived from this case may offer valuable guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment.
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Acknowledgments
The work was supported by the research funding from Infectious Diseases Special Project, Minister of Health of China (2012ZX10003002-009) and by Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding (ZYLX201304). All the mycobacterial strains used in this study were obtained from the Clinical Database and Sample Bank of Tuberculosis of Beijing (D131100005313012), National Clinical Lab on Tuberculosis, Beijing Chest Hospital.
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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Guan Liu and Su-Ting Chen have contributed equally to this work.
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Liu, G., Chen, ST., Yu, X. et al. Bacteriological and virulence study of a Mycobacterium chimaera isolate from a patient in China. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 107, 901–909 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-015-0382-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-015-0382-x