Leprosy - one of the many forgotten tropical diseases.

Leprosy or Hansen disease is caused by an infection of Mycobacterium leprae. The large number of undetected cases (2000-2012 years 4 mln people) remains a threat to the elimination of leprosy. Leprosy is an unheard in Poland and generally is considered a condition so "exotic" that it is not worth to spend more attention to it.

'TB or not TB?' Problems of differential diagnosis of cutaneous mycobacteriosis and tuberculosis--A Case Study and interdisciplinary discussion.

The diagnosis of cutaneous tuberculosis poses a serious challenge due to many skin diseases of different etiology resembling the lesions caused by the TB (tuberculosis) bacillus, and difficulties in confirming the disease. The presented case concerns skin lesions in a hobby aquarist stung in the finger of the left hand by a fish. The resulting inflammatory infiltration was to be cutaneous tuberculosis or mycobacteriosis caused by MOTT (Mycobacterium other than tuberculosis).

Transmission of tuberculosis among people living in the border areas of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Introduction: In 2007, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia joined the Schengen Agreement, abolishing restrictions on people crossing the borders. Currently, these areas are places of population movements for economic, family, and touristic reasons. This favors the transmission of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, and requires enhanced control over the spread of the source of infection in the population of patients living in the border areas.

Mutation profiling for detection of isoniazid resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Objectives: Progress in the detection of drug-resistant TB has been underpinned by the development and implementation of new, reliable and rapid diagnostic tools. These rely mostly on the detection of specific mutations conferring resistance to anti-TB drugs. The aim of this study was to search for mutations associated with isoniazid resistance among Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Second-line anti-tuberculosis drug resistance and its genetic determinants in multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Background: Mutations in several genetic loci have been implicated in the development of resistance to second-line anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs (SLDs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of resistance to SLDs and its association with specific mutations in multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Materials And Methods: The study included 46 MDR-TB isolates.

Screening for streptomycin resistance-conferring mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from Poland.

Currently, mutations in three genes, namely rrs, rpsL, and gidB, encoding 16S rRNA, ribosomal protein S12, and 16S rRNA-specific methyltransferase, respectively, are considered to be involved in conferring resistance to streptomycin (STR) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the spectrum and frequency of these mutations in M. tuberculosis clinical isolates, both resistant and susceptible to STR.

Detection of mutations associated with isoniazid resistance in multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of isoniazid resistance-conferring mutations among multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Poland.

Methods: Nine genetic loci, including structural genes (katG, inhA, ahpC, kasA, ndh, nat and mshA) and regulatory regions (i.e.

Mutations in the embB gene and their association with ethambutol resistance in multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from Poland.

Ethambutol (EMB) continues to be used as part of a standard drug regimen for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Mutations in the embB gene and those within its conserved EMB resistance determining region (ERDR) in particular have repeatedly been associated with resistance to EMB in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to examine the mutational "hot spots" in the embB gene, including the ERDR, among multidrug-resistant (MDR) M.

[Interferon-Gamma Release Assays in the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in clinical situations].

Until recently, the basic test to identify latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) was the tuberculin skin test, despite its limitations in the form of low sensitivity and specificity. Currently, Interferon Gamma Release Assays from peripheral blood are used for a rapid diagnosis of LTBI and measurement of the interferon gamma (IFN-g) levels secreted by specific T cells stimulated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens. Detection of LTBI is important in the control of people potentially at risk of TB disease, such as people remaining in close contact with BK (+) tb patient and for patients evaluated for biological treatment.

Correlation of N-acetyltransferase 2 genotype with isoniazid acetylation in Polish tuberculosis patients.

Unlabelled: Isoniazid (INH), a key agent in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), is metabolized primarily by the genetically polymorphic N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) enzyme. Patients treated with INH can be classified as fast, intermediate, and slow acetylators. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between NAT2 genotypes and the serum concentrations of INH.

Identification and analysis of mutations in the katG gene in multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Introduction: A major role in the development of resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to isoniazid (INH) is attributed to mutations in the katG gene coding for the catalase/peroxidase, an enzyme required for obtaining a pharmacologically active form of the drug. Analysis of mutations in the katG gene in M. tuberculosis strains may contribute to the development of reliable and rapid tests for detection of INH resistance.

[The biological role of prokaryotic and eukaryotic N-acetyltransferase].

The N-acetyltransferases (NAT; E.C.2.

[Polymorphism in the N-acetyltransferase 2 gene in patients with lung cancer. Short communication].

Introduction: Individual's risk of developing lung cancer depends not only on exposure to tobacco smoke, but also on the activity of enzymes involved in the activation or deactivation of carcinogens. Arylamine N-acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.

[Molecular analysis of strains from tuberculosis patients in Polish prisons in 2004-2008. Initial analysis of the project].

Introduction: Correctional facilities are recognised breeding ground for infectious diseases. As The World Health Organization reported the incidence of infectious diseases in prison's population is 10-100 times higher than in general population. The incidence of tuberculosis among correctional inmates in Poland in 2008 was 270/100000, that is around 10 times higher than among non-prisoners.

Transmission of tuberculosis within family-households.

Objective: The introduction of molecular typing methods in the 1990s to study the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) has significantly improved the possibilities of quantifying transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in different human settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate transmission of TB in 35 family-households in Poland.

Methods: Two PCR-based genotyping methods: spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) typing were used.

Synthesis, structure and biological evaluation of novel bicyclic nitroimidazole derivatives.

A new series of 3-hydroxy-8-nitroimidazo[5,1-b]-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine systems, being potential tuberculostatic agents, were synthesized. These products are close structural analogs of the basic structure of the known antitubercular bicyclic nitroimidazooxazine PA-824. The structures of the products obtained were confirmed by X-ray methods on the example of 3-hydroxy-8-nitro-1-phenylaminoimidazo[5,1-b]-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine.

The capacity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species and M. bovis BCG substrains specific identification - implications for optimized PCR-based diagnostics in adverse events following vaccination suspected cases.

The capacities of differentiation of Mycobacterium bovis BCG from other members of M. tuberculosis complex species using PCR-RFLP, multiplex PCR, and PCR-based genomic deletion analysis approaches were compared. In the study, mycobacteria isolated from patients suspected of adverse events following vaccination with BCG, primarily classified according presence of RD1 marker as virulent and avirulent mycobacteria, were used.

A two-step strategy for molecular typing of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from Poland.

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be one of the most challenging public health problems in the world. An important contributor to the global burden of the disease is the emergence and spread of drug-resistant and particularly multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains (MDR), defined as being resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin. In recent years, the introduction of different DNA-based molecular typing methods has substantially improved the knowledge of the epidemiology of TB.

[MDR, pre-XDR and XDR drug-resistant tuberculosis in Poland in 2000-2009].

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a curable disease and its spread can be prevented by using appropriate diagnostic methods and effective treatment. The obstacle to the rapid eradication of the disease from a population may be strains resistant to essential and most effective antibiotics. In many places in the world MDR, pre-XDR and XDR-TB was reported.

[Interferon-gamma assays T-SPOT.TB for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection].

Introduction: The diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is currently based on the century-old tuberculin skin test (TST). However a positive reaction can result from infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, BCG vaccination or cross-reaction with nontuberculous mycobacteria. T-SPOT.

[Drug resistant tuberculosis].

Drug-resistant tuberculosis, and particularly multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensive drug resistant TB (XDR-TB) as an increasing health problem and a serious challenge to TB control programs. MDR-Tb and XDR-TB are highly lethal in people living with HIV, with case of fatality rates of over 90%. At the same time, there are not many drugs effective in TB chemotherapy.

Trinucleotide repeat sequence-based PCR as a potential approach for genotyping Mycobacterium gordonae strains.

Diseases that are caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) continue to pose difficult clinical problems, and the epidemiological aspect of NTM-caused diseases is of great importance. In the case of Mycobacterium gordonae there is no adequate genotyping scheme. Here we present a potential rapid and reproducible genetic assay that uses trinucleotide repeat sequence-based PCR (TRS-PCR) for genotyping M.