Carmen A. Molina-Torres

In Vitro Activities of DA-7157 and DA-7218 against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Nocardia brasiliensis

ABSTRACT The in vitro activities of DA-7157, a novel oxazolidinone, against clinical isolates of Nocardia brasiliensis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were determined. Equal MIC50s and MIC90s (0.25 and 0.5 μg/ml, respectively) were found for susceptible and multidrug-resistant isolates of M. tuberculosis. The N. brasiliensis isolates showed an MIC90 of 1 μg/ml and an MIC50 of 1 μg/ml. The DA-7157 prodrug, DA-7218, exhibited similar MICs for M. tuberculosis but fivefold-higher MICs for N. brasiliensis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Spoligotypes in Monterrey, Mexico

ABSTRACT Although tuberculosis is still a public health problem in Mexico, there is little information about the genetic characteristics of the isolates. In the present study, we analyzed by spoligotyping 180 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from the urban area of Monterrey, Mexico, including drug-susceptible and drug-resistant isolates. The spoligotype patterns were compared with those in the international SITVIT2 spoligotyping database. Four isolates presented spoligotype patterns not found in the database (orphan types); the rest were distributed among 44 spoligo international types (SITs). SIT53 (clade T1) and SIT119 (clade X1) were predominant and included 43 (23.8%) and 28 (15.5%) of the isolates, respectively. In order to determine if there was a dominant spoligotype in the group of multidrug-resistant isolates, 37 of them were analyzed by IS6110-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assays, and scarce clustering of strains with more than five bands was observed. Fourteen isolates of this multidrug-resistant group presented four bands or less and were distributed in four SITs: SIT53 (n = 8), SIT92 (n = 3), SIT70 (n = 2), and SIT3038 (n = 1). When the molecular detection of mutations in the katG and rpoB genes were analyzed in these isolates with low copy numbers of IS6110, only two isolates shared the same IS6110, spoligotyping, and mutations patterns. When the distribution of the spoligotypes was analyzed by age cohort, SIT119 was predominantly found in patients 0 to 20 years old, especially in males, accounting for up to 40% of the isolates. In contrast, SIT53 was more prevalent in older females. This analysis demonstrates the variability of M. tuberculosis isolates in Monterrey and the partial dominance of SIT53 and SIT119 in that area of Mexico.

In Vitro Activities of the Novel Oxazolidinones DA-7867 and DA-7157 against Rapidly and Slowly Growing Mycobacteria

ABSTRACT DA-7867 and DA-7157 are oxazolidinones active against pathogenic aerobic actinomycetes including Nocardia spp. and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the activity of these drugs against nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) species is not known. In this work, we compared the susceptibilities of 122 clinical isolates and 29 reference species of both rapidly growing and slowly growing mycobacteria to linezolid, DA-7867, and DA-7157 by the broth microdilution method. The MICs for 50 and 90% of the strains tested (MIC50s and MIC90s, respectively) of DA-7867 and DA-7157 were lower than those of linezolid. In all of the cases, a MIC90 of <8 μg/ml was observed for all of the species tested in both groups of NTM. For M. kansasii and M. marinum isolates, the MIC90s of both DA-7867 and DA-7157 were less than 0.5 μg/ml. These results demonstrate the potential of these compounds to treat NTM infections.

Intracellular activity of tedizolid phosphate and ACH-702 versus Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages.

BackgroundDue to the emergency of multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is necessary the evaluation of new compounds.FindingsTedizolid, a novel oxazolidinone, and ACH-702, a new isothiazoloquinolone, were tested against M. tuberculosis infected THP-1 macrophages. These two compounds significantly decreased the number of intracellular mycobacteria at 0.25X, 1X, 4X and 16X the MIC value. The drugs were tested either in nanoparticules or in free solution.ConclusionTedizolid and ACH-702 have a good intracellular killing activity comparable to that of rifampin or moxifloxacin.

In Vitro Susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates to Garenoxacin and DA-7867

ABSTRACT The in vitro activities of DA-7867, a novel oxazolidinone, and garenoxacin (BMS-284756) were compared to those of linezolid in 67 susceptible and drug-resistant clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. DA-7867 was the most active drug with an MIC90 of 0.125 μg/ml, compared to the MIC90s of 4 μg/ml of garenoxacin and 2 μg/ml of linezolid.

In Vitro Activity of a New Isothiazoloquinolone, ACH-702, against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Other Mycobacteria

ABSTRACT In this work, we describe the activity of ACH-702 against clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and six different nontuberculous mycobacteria. The MIC50 and MIC90 of both susceptible and drug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains tested were 0.0625 and 0.125 μg/ml, respectively. The MIC50 and MIC90 values for Mycobacterium fortuitum isolates were 0.0625 μg/ml in both cases; Mycobacterium avium complex isolates showed MIC50 and MIC90 values of 0.25 and 4 μg/ml, respectively.

Mycobacterium lepromatosis Infections in Nuevo León, Mexico

ABSTRACT The frequency of infection caused by the recently described pathogen Mycobacterium lepromatosis is unknown. Here, we describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, and therapeutic outcomes of five lepromatous leprosy patients suffering from M. lepromatosis infection in Nuevo Léon, Mexico. Diagnosis was facilitated by a new highly specific PCR procedure.

Draft Genome Sequence of Actinomadura madurae LIID-AJ290, Isolated from a Human Mycetoma Case

ABSTRACT Here we present the draft genome sequence of a member of the Thermomonosporaceae, Actinomadura madurae LIID-AJ290, isolated from a human case of mycetoma. The assembly contains 10,308,866 bp. This is to our knowledge the first reported genome of a human-pathogenic Actinomadura species.

Effect of serial subculturing on the genetic composition and cytotoxic activity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Continuous subculture has been observed to produce changes in the virulence of micro-organisms, e.g. rabies virus, poliovirus and Mycobacterium bovis BCG. The latter has been used as a vaccine for tuberculosis for the last 100 years; however, in some instances its efficacy has been observed to be very low. In order to determine whether similar changes can be produced in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we selected four isolates, M. tuberculosis H37Rv, a Beijing strain (DR-689), and two more isolates with deletion of the phospholipase C locus (plcA-plcB-plcC ), and subjected them to serial culturing on Middlebrook 7H9 medium, with or without ox bile. After 100 passages, we performed RFLP-IS6110 analysis to determine whether genomic changes were produced. We also checked their genomic composition by microarray analysis. Changes in virulence were studied by measuring the cytotoxic effect of parental and subcultured isolates on a THP-1 macrophage monolayer. The most visible change was the change of position of an IS6110 band of approximately 1400 bp to approximately 1600 bp in the Beijing isolate subcultured in the ox bile medium. Analysis by microarray and PCR confirmation did not reveal any genomic changes. Cytotoxic activity was decreased in the isolates at levels close to that of BCG, and more consistently in those subcultured in the presence of ox bile.

Modeling tuberculosis pathogenesis through ex vivo lung tissue infection

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Several in vitro and in vivo experimental models have been used to study TB pathogenesis and induction of immune response during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Precision cut lung tissue slices (PCLTS) is an experimental model, in which all the usual cell types of the organ are found, the tissue architecture and the interactions amongst the different cells are maintained. PCLTS in good physiological conditions, monitored by MTT assay and histology, were infected with either virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv or the TB vaccine strain Mycobacterium bovis BCG. Histological analysis showed that bacilli infecting lung tissue slices were observed in the alveolar septa, alveolar light spaces, near to type II pneumocytes, and inside macrophages. Mycobacterial infection of PCLTS induced TNF-α production, which is consistent with previous M. tuberculosis in vitro and in vivo studies. This is the first report of using PCLTS as a system to study M. tuberculosis infection. The PCLTS model provides a useful tool to evaluate the innate immune responses and other aspects during the early stages of mycobacterial infection.