Mycobacterial testing in hospital laboratories: results from a questionnaire survey in Italy.

Between 1999 and 2001, 355 hospital laboratories in Italy were asked to complete a questionnaire addressing mycobacterial test methods, 1-year workloads and laboratory safety features. Analysis of the data showed that rapid methods for mycobacterial testing were being used by most larger laboratories; however, sub-optimal methods were still in use in small and medium-size laboratories. In a country such as Italy, which has a low prevalence of tuberculosis cases, implementation of rapid technologies, combined with regionalisation of mycobacterial diagnostic services, seems to be the most reasonable and cost-effective strategy.

Multicenter evaluation of the MB-Redox medium compared with radiometric BACTEC system, mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT), and Löwenstein-Jensen medium for detection and recovery of acid-fast bacilli.

MB-Redox is a new manual culture system designed for the recovery of mycobacteria from clinical specimens. It consists of a liquid medium (modified Kirchner medium) containing a redox indicator, a colorless tetrazolium salt, which is reduced to colored formazan by actively growing mycobacteria. Acid fast bacilli (AFB) are easily detected in the medium as pink to purple pinhead-sized particles.

Multicenter evaluation of mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT) compared with the BACTEC radiometric method, BBL biphasic growth medium and Löwenstein---Jensen medium.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the new BBL mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT) in comparison with other media. METHODS: MGIT was evaluated in 10 Italian centers on 433 clinical samples, mainly of respiratory origin and mainly smear positive, in comparison with Löwenstein---Jensen and with one or more other methods represented, according to participating centers, by the BACTEC radiometric method or by the biphasic BBL Septi-Chek AFB system. While MGIT and Löwenstein---Jensen were used for all the samples, 285 of them were also inoculated in BACTEC vials and 274 in biphasic bottles.

Type frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex strains isolated in Italy from AIDS and non-AIDS patients.

Typing of the glycopeptidolipid antigens performed by thin layer chromatography on 59 Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAC) strains isolated in Italy from AIDS patients showed that the most frequent types were 1, 4, 3, 8, and 21 (24, 19, 14, 14 and 8% of the strains, respectively). Among non-AIDS patients, types 1, 4 and 8 were also frequently found. The antimicrobial susceptibility tested in agar and/or liquid media to a panel of drugs indicated in clofazimine and rifabutin effective agents against both AIDS and non-AIDS strains.

Activity of seven antimicrobial agents, alone and in combination, against AIDS-associated isolates of Mycobacterium avium complex.

The activity of seven antimicrobial agents (and five two-drug combinations and five three-drug combinations) was investigated against 37 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium avium recovered from blood cultures of AIDS patients. The susceptibility tests were performed in Middlebrook 7H12 broth using a radiometric method. MICs of amikacin, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, clofazimine, ethambutol, rifabutin and sparfloxacin were determined.