[Action of 4 percent sulfuric acid on various species of mycobacteria]. / Action de l'acide sulfurique à 4 p. cent sur les diverses espèces de mycobactéries

The action of treatment with 4 p. cent sulphuric acid for 10 minutes, was tested on 13 strains of mycobacteria. Rapidly growing mycobacteria, e.g. M. diernhoferi, M. chelonei M. abscessus, M. Fortuitum, proved much more sensitive than slowly growing mycobacteria, e.g. M. xenopi, M, scrofulacem, M. kansaii, M. avium, M. marinum, BCG, M. tuberculosis and M. Bovis. We observed the persistance of a certain number of viable bacteria in spite of a duration of contact of 120 minutes, Albumin in the culture medium used presented a protective effect together with the high concentration in bacteria.

[Pulmonary mycobacteriosis due to a non-chromogenic, slow-growing, unclassified mycobacterium]. / Mycobactériose pulmonaire due à une mycobactérie non chromogène, à croissance lente, non classée.

A case is reported of a bilateral atypical mycobacterial infection, occurring in a 44 year old male with antecedent silicosis. Successful surgical resection was performed after 17 months of failed chemotherapy. The atypical mycobacterium which is unclassified is intermediate between Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare. Mycobacterium terrae complex and Mycobacterium gastri. It has some similarities with the newly described species, Mycobacterium malmöense.

[Skin ulcer caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans in Cameroon. II. Bacteriological study]. / L'ulcère cutané à Mycobacterium ulcerans au Cameroun. II. Etude bactériologique.

Nine stains of Mycobacterium ulcerans isolated in Kamerun, in Congo and in France, were compared with six reference strains found in Zaïre, Australia and Mexico and M. intracellulare, M. simiae, M. paratuberculosis. These fiveteen strains constitutets an species whose typical features were: the difficult and slow growth at the optimum temperature of 30 degrees C, the biochemical tests and the sensitivity to rifampin, streptomycin, kanamycin, viomycin, cycloserin and probably capreomycin. In mice inoculated by the intravenous route, M. ulcerans gives ulcerations of external teguments and sometimes, internal lesions.

[Relationships between "Mycobacterium simiae" and the "M. avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum" complex (author's transl)]. / Relations entre Mycobacterium simiae et le complexe M. avium-intracellulare-scofulaceum.

The 24 strains of Mycobacterium simiae described in this report were isolated from 12 black Africans, 6 from white Europeans, 5 from primates and 1 from a leprosy infected Armadillo. These strains form 3 groups having the similar morphologic and cultural properties as M. intracellulare. Two groups were similar with respect to pigmentation, urease activity and niacin production but differed serologically, the second group being of M. intracellulare serotype 18. The third group was less homogenous and was intermediate to M. simiae and M. intracellulare. Thus M. simiae belong to the M. avium-intracellulare-simiae-scrofulaceum (MAISS) complex. Two cases of well characterized pulmonary disease progressed like M. avium mycobacteriosis.

Wax D from different bovine strains of Mycobacterium.

Wax D(P), a peptido-glycolipid found in extracts of Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. hominis, was not found in extracts of three strains of still-grown M. tuberculosis var. bovis (BCG, Marmorek and Dupray). However, extracts from three other bovine strains (Behring, LA and BB) did yield waxes D(P), and these did not differ as to their molar ratios of alanine/glutamic acid/diaminopimelic acid from human waxes D(P).

[A case of pulmonary mycobacteriosis due to Mycobacterium intracellulare (author's transl)]. / Un cas de mycobactériose pulmonaire humaine par Mycobacterium intracellulare.

An M. intracellulare, rough strain (serotype 7) has been isolated from sputum of a sixty-year old patients. This patient was a political prisoner in Germany between 1942-1945 and had contracted pulmonary tuberculosis with the cavity in the upper lobe of the right lung. A strain of mycobacterium susceptible to antituberculous drugs was isolated from his sputum in 1973. Since 1979, the isolation of M. Intracellulare has been accompanied by clinical signs of pulmonary mycobacteriosis, i.e. persistence of the cavity in spite of antituberculous treatments reapparition of cough with sputum, general weakness. Intradermo-reaction with specific sensitin gives a strong positive reaction, contrasting with a weak reaction with PPD tuberculin. As the antibiogram of the strain shows a susceptibility to cotrimoxazole and erythromycin, the patient underwent a therapy with the combination sulfamethaxozale-trimethoprime and erythromycin, for 4 months. At the end of this treatment, he seems to have recovered completely. The radiological aspect of the lungs remains unchanged. Although the source of contamination remains unknown, one thinks on the basis of bibliographica data, that it can be found in human beings, or seldom in animals (a pig, a bird) or in nature (a pond).