We evaluated a new immunochromatographic assay (ICA) using mouse monoclonal anti-MPT64 antibody f... more We evaluated a new immunochromatographic assay (ICA) using mouse monoclonal anti-MPT64 antibody for rapid discrimination between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria in clinical isolates. A study with mycobacteria and other organisms showed excellent sensitivity (99%) and specificity (100%) and an appropriate detection limit (10 5 CFU/ml) when tested with M. tuberculosis H37Rv. This ICA can simplify the identification of M.
ABSTRACT There are several problems in mycobacterial detection and drug susceptibility testing. O... more ABSTRACT There are several problems in mycobacterial detection and drug susceptibility testing. One problem is that some test results are unnecessarily delayed because the tests are postponed until patients revisit clinics and pay the cost of the tests. Another problem is that critical and important tests are not requested because patients do not agree with their necessity. These inefficient practices may be due to the fee-for-service policy that the Korean medical insurance system is adopting and because many test methods used for mycobacterial infection have each test codes. Therefore, we propose a new test code encompassing several test items necessary for laboratory diagnosis of mycobacterial infection. This new code enables all necessary tests to be performed sequentially without delay and also prevents performance of unnecessary tests. These changes will help control tuberculosis without any further medical insurance financial input.
We report a case of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis due to Wangiella dermaitidis in an immunocompetent... more We report a case of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis due to Wangiella dermaitidis in an immunocompetent adult man. His cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed pleocytosis with a high eosinophil count but without peripheral blood eosinophilia. The present case suggested that this black yeast-like fungus should be included when the causes of CSF eosinophilia are considered, even though it is an extremely rare pathogen.
ABSTRACT A new clinico-pathological entity in which isochromosome 17q is the sole abnormality has... more ABSTRACT A new clinico-pathological entity in which isochromosome 17q is the sole abnormality has been reported in myelodysplastic syndrome and in myeloproliferative neoplasm with an aggressive course; In particular, myelodysplastic syndrome with the isolated i(17)(q10) chromosome has the unique features of male sex, severe anemia, dysmegakaryocytic hyperplasia, increased micromegakaryocytes, basophilia, eosinophila and high risk for progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the isolated i(17)(q10) is occurring at a relatively low frequency in de novo AML, and only a few reports are available in the literature about the clinical features and molecular characteristics of the isolated i(17)(q10) in AML. Herein, we report both the clinico-pathological features and the results of high resolution single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis in a case of AML with i(17)(q10) as the sole cytogenetic abnormality. This case showed marrow findings of basophilia and dysmegakaryocytic hyperplasia and aggressive clinical outcome and these findings were suggestive of the presence of underlying myelodysplastic syndrome. The breakpoint of i(17)(q10) was located within 17p11.2 sub-band, which is known as a genetically highly unstable region presenting a unique genomic architectural features of low copy repeats (LCRs); thus, LCRs within 17p11.2 might lead to genomic instability and facilitate somatic genetic rearrangements such as i(17) (q10) and could play an important pathogenetic role in presenting unique clinico-pathologic features as well as in tumor development and disease progression.
The release of extracellular vesicles, also known as outer membrane vesicles, membrane vesicles, ... more The release of extracellular vesicles, also known as outer membrane vesicles, membrane vesicles, exosomes, and microvesicles, is an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon from bacteria to eukaryotes. It has been reported that Mycobacterium tuberculosis releases extracellular vesicles harboring immunologically active molecules, and these extracellular vesicles have been suggested to be applicable in vaccine development and biomarker discovery. However, the comprehensive proteomic analysis has not been performed for M. tuberculosis extracellular vesicles. In this study, we identified a total of 287 vesicular proteins by four LC-MS/MS analyses with high confidence. In addition, we identified several vesicular proteins associated with the virulence of M. tuberculosis. This comprehensive proteome profile will help elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of M. tuberculosis. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001160. This article is protected by copyright. All r...
... Distribution and Clinical Significance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Identified by High Perf... more ... Distribution and Clinical Significance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Identified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Clinical Specimens. Joseph Jeong, Sung-Ryul Kim, Chulhun L. Chang, 1 and Seon Ho Lee. ... 17. Wallace RJ Jr, Brown BA, Griffith DE. ...
ABSTRACT In vitro measurement of allergen-specific IgE has become an important part of allergy di... more ABSTRACT In vitro measurement of allergen-specific IgE has become an important part of allergy diagnoses. HYTEC 288 system (Hycor Biomedical Inc., USA), which was recently introduced in Korea, is a fully automated immunoassay for quantitative measurements of allergen-specific IgE. In this study, we compared the clinical utility of this in vitro allergy test with that of ImmunoCAP assay (ImmunoDiagnostics, Sweden).
The presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae was demonstrated by PCR in Ixodes ricinus ticks and wild ... more The presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae was demonstrated by PCR in Ixodes ricinus ticks and wild small mammals in Switzerland in two areas of endemicity for bovine ehrlichiosis. Six ticks (three females and three nymphs) (1.4%) of 417 I. ricinus ticks collected by flagging vegetation contained ehrlichial DNA. A total of 201 small mammals from five species, wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), earth vole (Pitymys subterraneus), bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), and common shrew (Sorex araneus), were trapped. The analysis of I. ricinus ticks [corrected] collected on 116 small mammals showed that nine C. glareolus voles and two A. sylvaticus mice hosted infected tick larvae. In these rodents, granulocytic ehrlichia infection was also detected in blood, spleen, liver, and ear samples. Further examinations of 190 small mammals without ticks or with noninfected ticks showed the presence of ehrlichial DNA in spleen and other tissues from six addi...
ABSTRACT We analyzed the prevalence of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Mycobacterium tubercu... more ABSTRACT We analyzed the prevalence of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from respiratory specimens of patients with newly diagnosed and previously treated tuberculosis.
ABSTRACT We evaluated the performance of the AdvanSure MDR-TB GenoBlot Assay kit (AdvanSure MDR-T... more ABSTRACT We evaluated the performance of the AdvanSure MDR-TB GenoBlot Assay kit (AdvanSure MDR-TB, LG Life Science, Korea) to detect mutations related to rifampin (RFP)- and isoniazid (INH)-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory specimens.
ABSTRACT Molecular strain typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is important for the detection of ... more ABSTRACT Molecular strain typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is important for the detection of outbreaks of tuberculosis and laboratory cross contamination, as well as the differentiation between re-infection and reactivation of tuberculosis. In the present review, the authors investigated the currently available typing methods for M. tuberculosis and the current status of strain distribution in Korea. IS6110-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), which is considered a standard method, is based on numbers and positions of the insertion sequence, IS6110. The method has an excellent discriminatory power with a considerable amount of worldwide data, although it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Spoligotyping is based on the presence or absence of spacer sequences between direct repeat (DR) regions. PCR amplification allows for the possibility of application in the early suspicious stage. The data can be easily digitized; however, it shows identical profiles in Beijing family strains. Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) is another PCR-based genotyping method with a good discrimination power whose data can also be easily digitized. In Korea, the prevalence of Beijing family strains have been as high as 80 to 87%.
Sphingobacterium spiritivorum has been rarely isolated from clinical specimens of immunocompromis... more Sphingobacterium spiritivorum has been rarely isolated from clinical specimens of immunocompromised patients, and there have been no case reports of S. spiritivorum infection in Korea to our knowledge. We report a case of S. spiritivorum bacteremia in a 68-yr-old woman, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and subsequently received chemotherapy. One day after chemotherapy ended, her body temperature increased to 38.3℃. A gram-negative bacillus was isolated in aerobic blood cultures and identified as S. spiritivorum by an automated biochemical system. A 16S rRNA sequencing analysis confirmed that the isolate was S. spiritivorum. The patient received antibiotic therapy for 11 days but died of septic shock. This is the first reported case of human S. spiritivorum infection in Korea. Although human infection is rare, S. spiritivorum can be a fatal opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients.
To determine the distribution of rotavirus strain genotypes in South Korea, rotavirus-positive st... more To determine the distribution of rotavirus strain genotypes in South Korea, rotavirus-positive stool specimens were collected from July 2002 through June 2003 at 8 hospitals in the Korean Rotavirus Strain Surveillance Network, and they were genotyped by means of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The globally uncommon G4P[6] type was the most prevalent type identified among strains (27% of strains), the newly emerging G9P[8] strain accounted for 11% of strains, and the globally common genotypes (i.e., G1P[8], G2P[4], G3P[8], and G4P[8]) constituted 55% of the strains characterized. Ninety percent of G4P[6] strains were detected in specimens obtained from neonates. Common genotypes were responsible for the rotavirus epidemic that began in January 2003 and ended in May 2003; however, an early peak in infections with the G4P[6] strain occurred from August through October 2002, and infections with this strain were detected throughout the remaining study period. G4P[6] stra...
Pyrazinamide (PZA) is among the first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. In vitro, it ... more Pyrazinamide (PZA) is among the first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. In vitro, it kills semidormant mycobacteria only at low pH. The purpose of this study was to compare PZA resistance with pyrazinamidase (PZase) activity and the genotype to better understand the molecular basis of PZA resistance and to expand the profile of pncA mutations worldwide. Of the 28 tested strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 6 were susceptible to PZA and positive for PZase activity and had no pncA mutations. Twenty-one strains were resistant to PZA and negative for PZase activity and had mutations in the pncA gene, including 15 point mutations, 5 insertions, and 2 deletions. One strain had no mutation in the pncA gene, even though it was resistant to PZA and negative for PZase activity. Three isolates had adenine to guanine point mutations in the -11 upstream region, making this the most common type of pncA mutations in this study, with at least two different RFLP patterns. These data he...
We evaluated a new immunochromatographic assay (ICA) using mouse monoclonal anti-MPT64 antibody f... more We evaluated a new immunochromatographic assay (ICA) using mouse monoclonal anti-MPT64 antibody for rapid discrimination between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria in clinical isolates. A study with mycobacteria and other organisms showed excellent sensitivity (99%) and specificity (100%) and an appropriate detection limit (10 5 CFU/ml) when tested with M. tuberculosis H37Rv. This ICA can simplify the identification of M.
ABSTRACT There are several problems in mycobacterial detection and drug susceptibility testing. O... more ABSTRACT There are several problems in mycobacterial detection and drug susceptibility testing. One problem is that some test results are unnecessarily delayed because the tests are postponed until patients revisit clinics and pay the cost of the tests. Another problem is that critical and important tests are not requested because patients do not agree with their necessity. These inefficient practices may be due to the fee-for-service policy that the Korean medical insurance system is adopting and because many test methods used for mycobacterial infection have each test codes. Therefore, we propose a new test code encompassing several test items necessary for laboratory diagnosis of mycobacterial infection. This new code enables all necessary tests to be performed sequentially without delay and also prevents performance of unnecessary tests. These changes will help control tuberculosis without any further medical insurance financial input.
We report a case of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis due to Wangiella dermaitidis in an immunocompetent... more We report a case of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis due to Wangiella dermaitidis in an immunocompetent adult man. His cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed pleocytosis with a high eosinophil count but without peripheral blood eosinophilia. The present case suggested that this black yeast-like fungus should be included when the causes of CSF eosinophilia are considered, even though it is an extremely rare pathogen.
ABSTRACT A new clinico-pathological entity in which isochromosome 17q is the sole abnormality has... more ABSTRACT A new clinico-pathological entity in which isochromosome 17q is the sole abnormality has been reported in myelodysplastic syndrome and in myeloproliferative neoplasm with an aggressive course; In particular, myelodysplastic syndrome with the isolated i(17)(q10) chromosome has the unique features of male sex, severe anemia, dysmegakaryocytic hyperplasia, increased micromegakaryocytes, basophilia, eosinophila and high risk for progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the isolated i(17)(q10) is occurring at a relatively low frequency in de novo AML, and only a few reports are available in the literature about the clinical features and molecular characteristics of the isolated i(17)(q10) in AML. Herein, we report both the clinico-pathological features and the results of high resolution single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis in a case of AML with i(17)(q10) as the sole cytogenetic abnormality. This case showed marrow findings of basophilia and dysmegakaryocytic hyperplasia and aggressive clinical outcome and these findings were suggestive of the presence of underlying myelodysplastic syndrome. The breakpoint of i(17)(q10) was located within 17p11.2 sub-band, which is known as a genetically highly unstable region presenting a unique genomic architectural features of low copy repeats (LCRs); thus, LCRs within 17p11.2 might lead to genomic instability and facilitate somatic genetic rearrangements such as i(17) (q10) and could play an important pathogenetic role in presenting unique clinico-pathologic features as well as in tumor development and disease progression.
The release of extracellular vesicles, also known as outer membrane vesicles, membrane vesicles, ... more The release of extracellular vesicles, also known as outer membrane vesicles, membrane vesicles, exosomes, and microvesicles, is an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon from bacteria to eukaryotes. It has been reported that Mycobacterium tuberculosis releases extracellular vesicles harboring immunologically active molecules, and these extracellular vesicles have been suggested to be applicable in vaccine development and biomarker discovery. However, the comprehensive proteomic analysis has not been performed for M. tuberculosis extracellular vesicles. In this study, we identified a total of 287 vesicular proteins by four LC-MS/MS analyses with high confidence. In addition, we identified several vesicular proteins associated with the virulence of M. tuberculosis. This comprehensive proteome profile will help elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of M. tuberculosis. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001160. This article is protected by copyright. All r...
... Distribution and Clinical Significance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Identified by High Perf... more ... Distribution and Clinical Significance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Identified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Clinical Specimens. Joseph Jeong, Sung-Ryul Kim, Chulhun L. Chang, 1 and Seon Ho Lee. ... 17. Wallace RJ Jr, Brown BA, Griffith DE. ...
ABSTRACT In vitro measurement of allergen-specific IgE has become an important part of allergy di... more ABSTRACT In vitro measurement of allergen-specific IgE has become an important part of allergy diagnoses. HYTEC 288 system (Hycor Biomedical Inc., USA), which was recently introduced in Korea, is a fully automated immunoassay for quantitative measurements of allergen-specific IgE. In this study, we compared the clinical utility of this in vitro allergy test with that of ImmunoCAP assay (ImmunoDiagnostics, Sweden).
The presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae was demonstrated by PCR in Ixodes ricinus ticks and wild ... more The presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae was demonstrated by PCR in Ixodes ricinus ticks and wild small mammals in Switzerland in two areas of endemicity for bovine ehrlichiosis. Six ticks (three females and three nymphs) (1.4%) of 417 I. ricinus ticks collected by flagging vegetation contained ehrlichial DNA. A total of 201 small mammals from five species, wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), earth vole (Pitymys subterraneus), bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), and common shrew (Sorex araneus), were trapped. The analysis of I. ricinus ticks [corrected] collected on 116 small mammals showed that nine C. glareolus voles and two A. sylvaticus mice hosted infected tick larvae. In these rodents, granulocytic ehrlichia infection was also detected in blood, spleen, liver, and ear samples. Further examinations of 190 small mammals without ticks or with noninfected ticks showed the presence of ehrlichial DNA in spleen and other tissues from six addi...
ABSTRACT We analyzed the prevalence of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Mycobacterium tubercu... more ABSTRACT We analyzed the prevalence of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from respiratory specimens of patients with newly diagnosed and previously treated tuberculosis.
ABSTRACT We evaluated the performance of the AdvanSure MDR-TB GenoBlot Assay kit (AdvanSure MDR-T... more ABSTRACT We evaluated the performance of the AdvanSure MDR-TB GenoBlot Assay kit (AdvanSure MDR-TB, LG Life Science, Korea) to detect mutations related to rifampin (RFP)- and isoniazid (INH)-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory specimens.
ABSTRACT Molecular strain typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is important for the detection of ... more ABSTRACT Molecular strain typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is important for the detection of outbreaks of tuberculosis and laboratory cross contamination, as well as the differentiation between re-infection and reactivation of tuberculosis. In the present review, the authors investigated the currently available typing methods for M. tuberculosis and the current status of strain distribution in Korea. IS6110-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), which is considered a standard method, is based on numbers and positions of the insertion sequence, IS6110. The method has an excellent discriminatory power with a considerable amount of worldwide data, although it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Spoligotyping is based on the presence or absence of spacer sequences between direct repeat (DR) regions. PCR amplification allows for the possibility of application in the early suspicious stage. The data can be easily digitized; however, it shows identical profiles in Beijing family strains. Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) is another PCR-based genotyping method with a good discrimination power whose data can also be easily digitized. In Korea, the prevalence of Beijing family strains have been as high as 80 to 87%.
Sphingobacterium spiritivorum has been rarely isolated from clinical specimens of immunocompromis... more Sphingobacterium spiritivorum has been rarely isolated from clinical specimens of immunocompromised patients, and there have been no case reports of S. spiritivorum infection in Korea to our knowledge. We report a case of S. spiritivorum bacteremia in a 68-yr-old woman, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and subsequently received chemotherapy. One day after chemotherapy ended, her body temperature increased to 38.3℃. A gram-negative bacillus was isolated in aerobic blood cultures and identified as S. spiritivorum by an automated biochemical system. A 16S rRNA sequencing analysis confirmed that the isolate was S. spiritivorum. The patient received antibiotic therapy for 11 days but died of septic shock. This is the first reported case of human S. spiritivorum infection in Korea. Although human infection is rare, S. spiritivorum can be a fatal opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients.
To determine the distribution of rotavirus strain genotypes in South Korea, rotavirus-positive st... more To determine the distribution of rotavirus strain genotypes in South Korea, rotavirus-positive stool specimens were collected from July 2002 through June 2003 at 8 hospitals in the Korean Rotavirus Strain Surveillance Network, and they were genotyped by means of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The globally uncommon G4P[6] type was the most prevalent type identified among strains (27% of strains), the newly emerging G9P[8] strain accounted for 11% of strains, and the globally common genotypes (i.e., G1P[8], G2P[4], G3P[8], and G4P[8]) constituted 55% of the strains characterized. Ninety percent of G4P[6] strains were detected in specimens obtained from neonates. Common genotypes were responsible for the rotavirus epidemic that began in January 2003 and ended in May 2003; however, an early peak in infections with the G4P[6] strain occurred from August through October 2002, and infections with this strain were detected throughout the remaining study period. G4P[6] stra...
Pyrazinamide (PZA) is among the first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. In vitro, it ... more Pyrazinamide (PZA) is among the first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. In vitro, it kills semidormant mycobacteria only at low pH. The purpose of this study was to compare PZA resistance with pyrazinamidase (PZase) activity and the genotype to better understand the molecular basis of PZA resistance and to expand the profile of pncA mutations worldwide. Of the 28 tested strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 6 were susceptible to PZA and positive for PZase activity and had no pncA mutations. Twenty-one strains were resistant to PZA and negative for PZase activity and had mutations in the pncA gene, including 15 point mutations, 5 insertions, and 2 deletions. One strain had no mutation in the pncA gene, even though it was resistant to PZA and negative for PZase activity. Three isolates had adenine to guanine point mutations in the -11 upstream region, making this the most common type of pncA mutations in this study, with at least two different RFLP patterns. These data he...
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