Resumen

MEDEROS, Lilian María et al. Identification of non tuberculosis mycobacteria from HIV/AIDS patients by conventional methods and by study of mycolic acid fractions. Rev. Soc. Ven. Microbiol. [online]. 2007, vol.27, n.1, pp.349-363. ISSN 1315-2556.

Non tuberculosis mycobacteria are opportunist pathogens whose frequency in human infections has increased after the appearance of the Acquired Immunodefficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In this work we studied 40 strains isolated from patients infected by the Human Immunodefficiency Virus and isolates with pathogenic significance were further analyzed for diagnostic confirmation by the method that studies mycolic acid fractions. After identification, the results were: 9 Mycobacterium avium, 8 Mycobacterium fortuitum, 4 Mycobacterium flavescens, 4 Mycobacterium smegmatis, 3 Mycobacterium marinum, 4 Mycobacterium gastri, 2 Mycobacterium gordonae, 2 Mycobacterium chelonae, 1 Mycobacterium xenopi, 1 Mycobacterium phlei, 1 Mycobacterium triviale, and 1 Mycobacterium malmoense. Only five of these strains were associated to clinical symptoms: 2 Mycobacterium avium (disseminated and renal mycobacteriosis respectively), 1 Mycobacterium gordonae (skin lesions), 1 Mycobacterium fortuitum (submaxilar lymphoadenitis), and 1 Mycobacterium malmoense (submaxilar lymphoadenitis). The species most frequently isolated were: M. avium and M. fortuitum, in agreement with a bibliographic revision. The simultaneous application of conventional techniques and the study of mycolic acid allowed us to obtain more trustworthy results.

Palabras clave : Mycobacterium; non tuberculosis mycobacteria; AIDS; mycolic acids.