Usefulness of ligation-mediated PCR genotyping in tracking outbreak-associated Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains.

With the emergence of a multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) outbreak, the availability of a rapid typing method to carry out a nationwide prospective survey for the tracking of newly emerging MDR-TB foci became a priority. For this purpose, we have applied the IS6110 PCR-based genotyping assay, namely, LM-PCR (ligation-mediated PCR). The latter relies on ligation of a synthetic oligonucleotide priming site to a restriction site flanking IS6110. Sequences between the IS element and the restriction site are then amplified using an IS6110 specific outward primer and an oligonucleotide specific to the ligated priming site. Although it was found slightly less discriminative than the standard IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (IS6110 RFLP), LM-PCR allowed for the rapid and prospective identification of new outbreak-related cases within a large pool of circulating M. tuberculosis isolates. In comparison to IS6110 RFLP LM-PCR was found simple enough to justify its implementation in laboratories involved in MDR-TB surveillance at a nationwide scale.

[Combination of scleroderma and non bronchiolo-alveolar bronchial carcinoma. Report of a case and short review of the literature]. / Association sclérodermie-carcinome bronchique non bronchiolo-alvéolaire. Rapport d'un cas et revue brève de la littérature.

The authors report a case of broncho-pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma developed in a 59-year old woman who for 11 years had been suffering from systemic scleroderma for which she never consulted. The carcinoma was revealed by haemoptysis, dyspnoea and weight loss. It extended secondarily to the pleura. The authors have reviewed the literature on non-alveolar squamous cell carcinoma. They conclude that this type of cancer is rarely diagnosed before death and has a very poor prognosis.

Large-scale DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains as a tool for epidemiological studies of tuberculosis.

We conducted a large-scale DNA fingerprinting analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in a country in which tuberculosis is endemic (Tunisia) in order to evaluate the importance of microepidemics in the maintenance of the disease within the population. The genetic polymorphisms of 201 strains of M. tuberculosis isolated from 196 unrelated patients living in four districts of northern Tunisia during a 3-year period were studied by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis by using the insertion sequence IS6110 as a probe. Seventy-three strains isolated from 68 patients living in the districts of Tunis, Nabeul, and Jendouba generated 67 different RFLPs, indicating a high degree of polymorphism of the M. tuberculosis strains within these areas. In contrast, the 128 strains isolated from individuals in the district of Menzel Bourguiba appeared much less heterogeneous since they often generated identical or very similar fingerprints. Seventeen of 29 cases (58%) of active tuberculosis in the city of Menzel Bourguiba could be traced to as few as four M. tuberculosis strains. These results indicate the persistence of underestimated microepidemics in this region. The RFLP typing of a large number of randomly collected strains provides a general picture of the strains involved in tuberculosis. The systematic study of limited areas where tuberculosis is endemic can provide evidence for the existence of persisting epidemics. This stresses the different problems which remain to be solved in order to improve the control of tuberculosis.