A case of septic arthritis caused by a Mycoplasma salivarium strain resistant towards Ciprofloxacin and Clarithromycin in a patient with chronic lymphatic leukemia.

Mycoplasma salivarium is a rare agent of septic arthritis in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of septic arthritis due to Mycoplasma salivarium in a patient with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia who underwent chemotherapy with rituximab and bendamustin. Therapy of arthritis due to Mycoplasma salivarium is difficult because there are almost no susceptibility data available. The present case illustrates that antimicrobial susceptibility of Mycoplasma strains is not necessarily predictable and that antibiotic therapy should therefore be guided by in vitro susceptibility testing.

Mycoplasma removal from cell culture using antimicrobial photodynamic therapy.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in the removal of mycoplasmas from contaminated cells. BACKGROUND DATA: Mycoplasmas often contaminate cell cultures. The cell-contaminating mycoplasmas are removed by antibiotics, but the use of antibiotics usually induces antibiotic-resistant bacteria. aPDT is expected to be a possible alternative to antibiotic treatments for suppressing infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mycoplasma salivarium (Ms)-infected human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells were irradiated using a red light-emitting diode (LED) in the presence of methylene blue (MB) as a photosensitizer. The Ms viable count was determined using culture on agar plates or using a mycoplasma detection kit. RESULTS: aPDT performed using red LED irradiation was effective in decreasing live Ms in the presence of MB without damaging the HEK293 cells. aPDT removed live Ms from the infected cells after washing the cells with sterilized phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to decrease the initial number of live Ms before aPDT. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that aPDT could remove mycoplasmas from contaminated cells.