Mycobacteria Flashcards
Which 3 groups of mycobacteria did we talk about?
- M. Tuberculosis
- Atypical mycobacteria
- M. Leprae
Are mycobacterium and mycoplasma the same?
No, mycoplasma is a bacteria without a cell wall and normally doesn’t cause deathly infections unlike mycobacterium.
M. Tuberculosis is the most common infectious cause of mortality worldwide. M. Tb can’t be gram stained. Explain the acid fast stain.
- Smear patient’s sputum on slide and fix it via heat
- Cover whole smear with carbol fuschin dye
- Steam over boiling water (necessary to get stain into mycolic acid)
- Decolorize with acid alcohol
- Rinse, add acid
- Counter stain with methylene blue.
M. Tb will appear fuchsia, non tb will stain blue
M. Tb is an obligate aerobe. It is very slow growing in cultures and in human host which creates a problem in diagnosis and treatment. Explain.
Since there is multidrug resistant tb, it is impt to so anti microbial sensitivity assay before prescribing abx. But tb grows so slowing in vitro (1-2 wks). Performing the assay will also take a few weeks so giving appropriate treatment could be delayed as long as a little over a month.
Does m. Tb secrete toxins?
No toxins
How is m. Tb transmitted?
Inhalation of infected aerosols
Why are guinea pigs impt in clinical testing of m. Tb?
M. Tb is pathogenic in guinea pigs but other mycobacteria that can mimic TB are not pathogenic in guinea pigs so this is a good way to differentiate real tb from mimics
Tb can be extra cellular and intracellular and are very environmentally hardy. Explain.
Tb is extracellular as its being inhaled. Tb can be phagocytosed by naive macrophages and not get killed (hence is also an intracellular pathogen). It is environmentally hardy because resistant to acid and alkali
What are three structural components of mycobacteria tuberculosis?
- Mycolic acids
- Phosphatides (caseation necrosis)
- Cord factor gives tb it’s microscopic serpentine appearance and is a virulence factor
Does tb get its abx resistance via plasmids?
No, drug resistance is chromosomal
M tuberculosis pathogenesis
- Via inhalation
- Replication in lungs
- Form ghon complexes that actively proliferate and want to go to blood
- Additional sites of proliferation in lungs causing development of infectious sputum
- Swallow infectious sputum causes GI infection
- Ghon complexes breach blood
- Some will use macrophages like Trojan horses (salmonella typhi), some will be free bacteria in blood
What are two potentially fatal consequences of m tuberculosis in patients under 5 and/or immuno suppressed or the very old?
Miliary tb -millet seeds all over body
Tb meningitis
If patient is healthy, s/he can close off tb with help of active immunity, forming
Tb granulomas which have oxygen! Impt because tb is an obligate aerobe. These granulomas can calcify over the years.
Immunosuppression can cause reactivation of tb
In neck - scrofula In kidneys - genitourinary tb In gut - GI tb In spine/long bone - skeletal tb In lungs - reactivating pulmonary tb
M tuberculosis can travel to which 4 extrapulmonary sites via hematogenous spread
Kidneys, meninges, bones and lymph nodes
What are the 2 phases used to explain the cellular pathogenesis of tb?
First, tb will grow for 2-3 wks. Then the 1st phase of cell-mediated immunity to stop the growth involves cd4 helper T cells activate infected macrophages to kill intracellular bacteria. The 2nd phase is when cd8 suppressor T cells lyse other infected macrophages.
Dormant tb is holed up in granulomas. Which 3 other infections can cause reactivation of TB?
Measles, varicella and pertussis
What are tubercles and when are they found in tb infection?
Tubercles are caseating granulomas that develop when cd8 cells lyse infected macrophages (2nd phase of cell mediated immunity against tb).
Should you give patients with dormant tb the drug remicade?
No, remicade is a TNF-alpha antagonist. Should not be given to patients with latent tb bc TNF-alpha helps maintain dormancy.
What is the role of TNF-alpha in tb?
TNF-alpha can maintain the latency/dormancy of tb
Risk factors of tuberculosis
Crowded at-risk environments like prisons, homeless shelters and hospitals
What are some risk factors for poor outcome of tb?
- under 5 y.o
- immunosuppression (HIV, cancer)
- steroids
- IFN-gamma deficiency (cannot activate macrophages)
- on remicade