Tuberculosis among the homeless and inmates kept in custody and in penitentiary institutions in the Silesia region.

Introduction: There are more than 10 million prisoners in the world. Tuberculosis incidence is 10-100 times higher in prisoners than in the general population. Inmates have close contact with other prisoners and with prison workers and visitors, so tubercle bacilli may be easily spread.

[Quantitative analysis of sigma genes expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures exposed to rifampicin and isoniazid].

The aim of the study was quantitative analysis of five genes encoding Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigma factors sigA, sigE, sigF, sigH, and sigI as well as the 85B reference gene known as the mycobacterial viability marker, in cultures exposed to rifampicin and isoniazid. The mRN levels were assessed using QRT-PCR technique, in the automated system of real time quantification with the ABI PRISM 7700 Sequence Detector System (TaqMan). The number of each analyzed gene transcript copies was expressed as a number of mRNA per 1 eg of isolated total RNA.

[Detection of 85B mRNA in Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures using the quantitative QRT-PCR (TaqMan) method].

The paper presents the in-house method of quantitative analysis of 85 B mRNA in Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures coming from seeded biological material taken from tuberculosis patients. After the proper culture time, the total RNA was isolated. Than, a one-step QRT-PCR was performed.