RESUMEN
Legionellosis can be diagnosed by PCR using sputum samples. In this report, the methods of nine laboratories for 12 sputum samples with Legionella pneumophila and Legionella longbeachae are compared. We conclude that (i) liquefaction prevents PCR inhibition, (ii) the employed mip gene PCRs detected L. pneumophila only, and (iii) the 16S rRNA gene PCR detected both Legionella species and is preferred for the diagnosis of legionellosis.
Asunto(s)
Legionella longbeachae/aislamiento & purificación , Legionella pneumophila/aislamiento & purificación , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa/métodos , Esputo/microbiología , Humanos , Legionella longbeachae/genética , Legionella pneumophila/genética , Legionelosis/diagnóstico , ARN Ribosómico 16S/genéticaRESUMEN
In a recent report, our group presented clinical research data supporting the role of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) deficiency in susceptibility to meningococcal disease (W. A. Bax, O. J. J. Cluysenaer, A. K. M. Bartelink, P. C. Aerts, R. A. B. Ezekowitz, and H. van Dijk, Lancet 354:1094-1095, 1999). This association was reported earlier by Hibberd et al. (M. L. Hibberd, M. Sumiya, J. A. Summerfield, R. Booy, M. Levin, and the Meningococcal Research Group, Lancet 353:1049-1053, 1999) but was not based on family data. Our study included three members of one family who had acquired meningococcal meningitis in early adulthood. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the genotypes of the MBL gene in this family, analyzed by PCR, correlate with MBL concentrations. We found that genotype variants in the MBL gene and promoter region match the low functional MBL levels (<0.25 microg of equivalents/ml) in the sera of the three patients in this family and that a significant correlation between genotype MBL deficiency and meningococcal disease existed.