Mycobacterium insubricum sp. nov.

Five independent strains, isolated from clinical samples but probably not responsible for disease, revealed phenotypic and genotypic features that appeared to exclude their belonging to any of the recognized Mycobacterium species. The strains, which are non-pigmented rapid growers, presented a cell-wall lipid pattern resembling those of Mycobacterium brumae and Mycobacterium fallax. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA, hsp65 and rpoB genes and the 16S-23S rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer (ITS) revealed that the strains are clearly distinct from every other Mycobacterium species.

Pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium arosiense, an easily misidentified pathogenic novel mycobacterium.

Mycobacterium arosiense is a newly described species. After noticing it was misidentified as Mycobacterium intracellulare by the commercial identification system GenoType CM (Hein, Nehren, Germany), we detected 4 such strains among 33 that were previously misidentified as M. intracellulare.

Use of commercial cards for freeing DNA from mycobacterial strains.

A new commercial system for rapid extraction of DNA, consisting of a card on which a drop of bacterial suspension is spotted, was evaluated with 43 mycobacterial strains. Once dried, a small disk of the seeded area was directly transferred in the amplification mixture. All the samples produced good quality amplification products which were satisfactorily sequenced.

NADPH oxidase-dependent redox signaling in human heart failure: relationship between the left and right ventricle.

Oxidative stress resulting from increased superoxide generation by NADPH oxidase is implicated in the pathophysiology of human heart failure. Downstream targets of NADPH oxidase remain undefined and available information is restricted to the left ventricle (LV). Thus, we aimed to assess the cascade of events triggered by increased NADPH oxidase activity (lipid peroxidation and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases ERK1/2, JNK and p38) and their mutual relationship in right (RV) and (LV) of end-stage failing human hearts.

Early ganciclovir therapy effectively controls viremia and avoids the need for cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis in renal transplant patients with cytomegalovirus antigenemia.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is still a problem for organ transplant recipients despite studies that long-term prophylaxis with high dose of acyclovir or ganciclovir given to all organ recipients may limit the consequences of infection and disease. In the present report of 160 consecutive renal transplant patients, we used a diagnostic assay for CMV antigenemia (detection of CMV antigen in peripheral blood leukocytes) and treated with ganciclovir only those patients who had a positive test. No patient in this series had routine prophylaxis.