Enhanced growth of mycobacteria by culture filtrate of Gemella haemolysans.

The culture filtrate of G. haemolysans enhanced the growth of mycobacteria. The enhancing substance seemed to be effectively produced in BHI broth supplemented with human blood. The mycobacterial growth was inhibited by high concentrations of the culture filtrate, but was markedly enhanced at low concentrations such as 1/32 or 1/64 dilutions. The generation time at log phase was 7 to 9 hours compared with 14 hours for the control, leading to rapid detection of mycobacteria in culture. With sputa specimens from tuberculosis patients, the culture time to visual detection of mycobacterial growth was decreased by 59 to 67%.