Lahiri A, Kneisel J, Kloster I, Kamal E, Lewin A
Division 16 Mycotic and Parasitic Agents and Mycobacteria, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2014 Jul;59(1):65-70. doi: 10.1111/lam.12243. Epub 2014 Mar 26.
The nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a heterogeneous group of bacteria found in soil, water and dust. The spread of NTM infection depends on the exposure to reservoirs with high proportions of mycobacteria, the virulence of the NTM strains, the enhanced sensitivity to infections such as those of immune-compromised hosts and patient risk factors such as Cystic Fibrosis. Since several decades, NTM lung disease has been increasingly observed in slender postmenopausal women. The most important NTM in Germany is Mycobacterium avium ssp. hominissuis (MAH). The routes of MAH infection are in almost all cases unknown, but water is often suspected as source of infection. We wanted to examine this hypothesis by determining the frequency of MAH in environmental samples of water, biofilms, soil and dust originating from Germany. We found MAH in 33% of the dust samples and 20% of the soil samples. No MAH could be isolated from water and biofilm. Dust and soil clearly presented more abundance of MAH in comparison with water and biofilms. Therefore, more attention should be paid to soil and dust in Germany as an important source of Myco. avium infections.
This study was conducted to investigate the ecological abundance of the most prominent clinical nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in Germany, the Mycobacterium avium ssp. hominissuis (MAH). Examination of soil, water, dust and biofilm samples revealed that MAH in Germany was predominant in soil and dust. No MAH was identified in water and biofilms. Our finding contributes to the identification of the environmental niche of this opportunistic pathogen and proposes soil and dust as sources of MAH infection in Germany.
非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）是一类存在于土壤、水和灰尘中的异质性细菌。NTM感染的传播取决于接触分枝杆菌比例高的储存宿主、NTM菌株的毒力、对免疫功能低下宿主等感染的易感性增加以及患者风险因素（如囊性纤维化）。几十年来，NTM肺病在消瘦的绝经后女性中越来越多地被观察到。德国最重要的NTM是鸟分枝杆菌人型亚种（MAH）。几乎在所有情况下，MAH的感染途径都不清楚，但水常被怀疑是感染源。我们想通过测定德国水、生物膜、土壤和灰尘环境样本中MAH的频率来检验这一假设。我们在33%的灰尘样本和20%的土壤样本中发现了MAH。水和生物膜中未分离出MAH。与水和生物膜相比，灰尘和土壤中MAH的含量明显更高。因此，在德国应更加关注土壤和灰尘作为鸟分枝杆菌感染的重要来源。
本研究旨在调查德国最主要的临床非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）——鸟分枝杆菌人型亚种（MAH）的生态丰度。对土壤、水、灰尘和生物膜样本的检测表明，德国的MAH在土壤和灰尘中占主导地位。水和生物膜中未鉴定出MAH。我们的发现有助于确定这种机会性病原体的环境生态位，并提出土壤和灰尘是德国MAH感染的来源。
