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Objetivo: La resistencia a los fármacos antituberculosis es de gran interés en salud pública. La coinfección con virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) ha cambiado el comportamiento de dicha enfermedad. El objetivo de nuestro estudio es determinar la prevalencia de la resistencia a fármacos antituberculosis en pacientes coinfectados con tuberculosis (TB)/VIH. Método: Se realizó un estudio retrospectivo a partir de la revisión de los registros clínicos de casos nuevos y fracasos de TB coinfectados con VIH que consultaron a un centro de atención de nivel IV desde 2007 a 2010 y que contaban con pruebas de susceptibilidad. Resultados: Un 52% de los pacientes procedían de Santiago de Cali, y un 8%, de Buenaventura. La TB se presentó de forma extrapulmonar en el 80% de los pacientes. Del 48% de los sujetos que conocían su estado VIH previo al diagnóstico de la TB, el 40% estaban en terapia antirretroviral. El 16% de los casos eran fracasos, entre los cuales se detectó un caso multidrogorresistente. De los casos nuevos, se encontró monorresistencia a la isoniazida del 14%, y una resistencia total del 28%. Conclusiones: Se encontró una mayor prevalencia de resistencia a la esperada en población coinfectada TB/VIH; por lo que es necesario fortalecer el trabajo en equipo entre las entidades públicas y privadas para controlar dicha situación y fomentar el diagnóstico temprano y la realización de pruebas de susceptibilidad a fármacos antituberculosis.

Background: Resistance to anti-tuberculosis treatment is a matter of great interest in terms of public health. TB/HIV coinfection changed what was previously known about TB. Our study attempts to determine the prevalence of resistance to TB drugs among a local TB/HIV population. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted, which consisted of a review of the clinical records of new and relapsing cases of TB/HIV coinfected patients, with drug susceptibility tests, who attended an advanced medical care centre in Cali, Colombia, between 2007 and 2010. Results: Just over half (52%) of the patients were native from Cali, and 8% were from Buenaventura. An extra-pulmonary presentation of TB was seen in 80% of the subjects. Almost half (48%) were HIV positive before the diagnosis of tuberculosis was made, 40% of whom were on HAART treatment. Of the total cases, 16% were relapses, including one case of multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB. Among the new cases, 14% were resistant to isoniazid only, making a total of 28% being resistant to this. Conclusions: There was a higher than expected prevalence of resistance in TB/HIV patients. There is an urgent need to improve the team work between public health organizations and private medical institutions, and this cooperation hould be of great priority, as it is a means to control and promote early diagnosis with drug-susceptibility tests.

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We describe a 32-year-old man who developed granulomatous thyroiditis (GT) during etanercept therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Fever and thyroid pain developed 8 months after administration of etanercept. Noncaseating epithelioid cell granulomas consistent with GT were detected in a thyroid biopsy. Tissue staining and cultures for bacteria, mycobacterium, and fungus were all negative. Etanercept therapy was withdrawn and steroids regime was indicated with clinical and laboratory improvement. A month after, the patient developed hypothyroidism and recurrence of RA. A year after, the patient is asymptomatic with rituximab, methotrexate, and levothyroxine therapy. We report a case of GT probably in an etanercept-induced granulomatous reaction context.

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Introducción. La reacción a la prueba cutánea de Montenegro (a leishmanina) y la lesión de leishmaniasis comparten características fundamentales de la reacción de hipersensibilidad de tipo retardado. Objetivos. Determinar si la respuesta cutánea a leishmanina se aproxima y podría modelar la respuesta inflamatoria e inmune temprana a la infección por Leishmania. Materiales y métodos. Este estudio comparó la respuesta inflamatoria de biopsias de lesiones agudas (tiempo de evolución £1 mes) y lesiones crónicas (tiempo de evolución ³6 meses) con su respectiva reacción a la prueba cutánea de Montenegro, y con la reacción a la prueba de Montenegro de individuos infectados asintomáticos. Resultados. La proporción de linfocitos T CD4+ y CD8+, células fagocíticas mononucleares y granulocitos fue similar entre lesiones agudas y sus reacciones a la prueba cutánea a leishmanina. En contraste, los linfocitos CD4+ (32,6 por ciento) representaron una proporción significativamente mas baja, y los linfocitos B (20 por ciento) y macrófagos (27 por ciento) una proporción significativamente más alta del infiltrado celular en lesiones crónicas que en sus correspondientes reacciones a la prueba cutánea de Montenegro (CD4+: 43,7 por ciento, linfocitos B: 0.9 por ciento; macrófagos: 17,5 por ciento). Se encontró una asociación positiva entre linfocitos T CD8+ y macrófagos ( P=0,038) en la reacción a la prueba cutánea de Montenegro de los individuos con infección asintomática, mientras que los linfocitos T CD8+ y CD4+ estuvieron asociados positivamente en las reacciones a la prueba cutánea de Montenegro de pacientes crónicos ( P=0,002). Adicionalmente, la proporción de linfocitos B en lesiones crónicas (20 por ciento) fue más alta que en lesiones agudas (5,3 por ciento) ( P=0,002). Conclusión. La reacción cutánea de Montenegro permitió diferenciar la respuesta celular inmune entre infección asintomática y enfermedad crónica, y simula la respuesta temprana a la infección.

Introduction. The Montenegro skin test reaction and leishmaniasis lesions share fundamental characteristics of a delayed type hypersensitivity reaction. Objectives. To determine whether the Montenegro skin test reaction (response to leishmanin) might approximate and thereby provide insight into the early inflammatory and immune response to Leishmania infection. Materials and methods. We compared the inflammatory response in biopsies of acute (evolution time £one month), and chronic lesions (evolution time ³6 months) with the Montenegro skin test reaction in the corresponding patients, and with the Montenegro skin test of asymptomatically infected volunteers. Results. The proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, mononuclear phagocytes and granulocytes were similar in acute lesions and in their corresponding Montenegro skin test reactions. In contrast, CD4+ lymphocytes (32.6%) represented a significantly lower, and B cells (20%) and macrophages (27%) a significantly higher proportion of the cellular infiltrate in chronic lesions as compared to reactions in the corresponding skin test site (CD4+: 43.7%, B cells: 0.9%; macrophages: 17.5%). CD8+ T lymphocytes and macrophages were positively associated ( P=0.038) in the Montenegro skin test of asymptomatically infected individuals whereas CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were positively associated in the Montenegro skin test of chronic patients ( P=0.002). Notably, B cells were markedly more frequent in chronic lesions (20%) than in acute lesions (5.3%) ( P=0.002). Conclusion. The Montenegro skin test distinguished the cellular immune response to Leishmania in asymptomatic infection and chronic disease and may provide a surrogate of the early response to infection.

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INTRODUCTION: The Montenegro skin test reaction and leishmaniasis lesions share fundamental characteristics of a delayed type hypersensitivity reaction. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the Montenegro skin test reaction (response to leishmanin) might approximate and thereby provide insight into the early inflammatory and immune response to Leishmania infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the inflammatory response in biopsies of acute (evolution time < or = one month), and chronic lesions (evolution time > or = 6 months) with the Montenegro skin test reaction in the corresponding patients, and with the Montenegro skin test of asymptomatically infected volunteers. RESULTS: The proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, mononuclear phagocytes and granulocytes were similar in acute lesions and in their corresponding Montenegro skin test reactions. In contrast, CD4+ lymphocytes (32.6%) represented a significantly lower, and B cells (20%) and macrophages (27%) a significantly higher proportion of the cellular infiltrate in chronic lesions as compared to reactions in the corresponding skin test site (CD4+: 43.7%, B cells: 0.9%; macrophages: 17.5%). CD8+ T lymphocytes and macrophages were positively associated (P = 0.038) in the Montenegro skin test of asymptomatically infected individuals whereas CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were positively associated in the Montenegro skin test of chronic patients (P = 0.002). Notably, B cells were markedly more frequent in chronic lesions (20%) than in acute lesions (5.3%) (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The Montenegro skin test distinguished the cellular immune response to Leishmania in asymptomatic infection and chronic disease and may provide a surrogate of the early response to infection.

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Luciferase reporter phages (LRPs) have proven to be efficient tools for drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Luminometric detection of LRP activity offers higher sensitivity and quantitative results, while a Polaroid film detection method offers a "low-tech" inexpensive alternative that is called the Bronx box. In this work we evaluated, improved, and compared the performance of the luminometer and the Bronx box formats for drug susceptibility testing with LRPs by using 51 clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis, with the agar proportion method (PM) serving as reference. The sensitivity in detecting resistance to isoniazid and rifampin, antibiotics that define multidrug resistance (MDR), was 100% for both methods. The turnaround time for results was reduced from 3 weeks for PM to 54 or 94 h for luminometry or the Bronx box, respectively. These results support the utility of LRPs as a screening test for the surveillance of MDR tuberculosis.

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We determined that the site of inoculation (foot or snout) influences the clinical evolution and immune responses of hamsters infected with Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis. Hamsters infected in the snout showed (i) a more rapid and severe lesion evolution at multiple time points (P < 0.05), (ii) a more extensive inflammatory infiltrate and tissue necrosis, (iii) a higher tissue parasite burden, (iv) a higher antibody titre (P < 0.01), but lower antigen-specific spleen cell proliferative response (P = 0.02), and (v) a slower response to anti-leishmanial drug treatment (P < 0.002). In both inoculation groups there was co-expression of type 1 (IFN-gamma and IL-12) and some type 2 (IL-10 and TGF-beta, but not IL-4) cytokines in the cutaneous lesions and spleen. Early in the course of infection, hamsters infected in the snout showed higher expression of splenic IL-10 (P = 0.04) and intra-lesional IFN-gamma (P = 0.02) than foot infections. No expression of IL-12p40 or IL-4 was detected. During the chronic phase, snout lesions expressed more IFN-gamma (P = 0.001), IL-12p40 (P = 0.01), IL-10 (P = 0.009) and TGF-beta (P = 0.001), and the level of expression of each of these cytokines correlated with lesion size (P < or = 0.01). These results suggest that the site of infection influences the clinical outcome in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis, and that the expression of macrophage-deactivating type 2 cytokines and/or an exaggerated type 1 proinflammatory cytokine response may contribute to lesion severity.

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