Introduction. The incidence of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) pulmonary disease (MAC PD), a refractory chronic respiratory tract infection, is increasing worldwide. MAC has three predominant colony morphotypes: smooth opaque (SmO), smooth transparent (SmT) and rough (Rg). Aim. To determine whether colony morphotypes can predict the prognosis of MAC PD, we evaluated the virulence of SmO, SmT and Rg in mice and in human macrophages. Methodology. We compared the characteristics of mice and human macrophages infected with the SmO, SmT, or Rg morphotypes of M. avium subsp. hominissuis 104. C57BL/6 mice and human macrophages derived from peripheral mononuclear cells were used in these experiments. Results. In comparison to SmO- or SmT-infected mice, Rg-infected mice revealed severe pathologically confirmed pneumonia, increased lung weight and increased lung bacterial burden. Rg-infected macrophages revealed significant cytotoxicity, increased bacterial burden, secretion of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and chemokines (CCL5 and CCL3), and formation of cell clusters. Rg formed larger bacterial aggregates than SmO and SmT. Cytotoxicity, bacterial burden and secretion of IL-6, CCL5 and CCL3 were induced strongly by Rg infection, and were decreased by disaggregation of the bacteria. Conclusion. M. avium Rg, which is associated with bacterial aggregation, has the highest virulence among the predominant colony morphotypes.

中文翻译：

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鸟分枝杆菌的粗糙菌落形态在人巨噬细胞和小鼠中表现出高毒力。

介绍。在世界范围内，难治性慢性呼吸道感染鸟分枝杆菌复合物（MAC）肺部疾病（MAC PD）的发病率正在增加。MAC具有三种主要的菌落形态：光滑不透明（SmO），光滑透明（SmT）和粗糙（Rg）。目标。为了确定菌落形态型是否可以预测MAC PD的预后，我们评估了小鼠和人类巨噬细胞中SmO，SmT和Rg的毒力。方法。我们比较了小鼠和人类巨噬细胞的感染特征，它们感染了鸟分枝杆菌亚种的SmO，SmT或Rg形态型。人猿 104.在这些实验中使用了C57BL / 6小鼠和来源于外周单核细胞的人类巨噬细胞。结果。与SmO或SmT感染的小鼠相比，Rg感染的小鼠表现出严重的经病理证实的肺炎，肺重量增加和肺细菌负荷增加。受Rg感染的巨噬细胞显示出显着的细胞毒性，增加的细菌负担，促炎性细胞因子（TNF-α和IL-6）和趋化因子（CCL5和CCL3）的分泌以及细胞簇的形成。Rg比SmO和SmT形成更大的细菌聚集体。Rg感染强烈诱导细胞毒性，细菌负荷和IL-6，CCL5和CCL3的分泌，而由于细菌的分解而降低。结论。 鸟分枝杆菌 与细菌聚集有关的Rg在主要的菌落形态型中具有最高的毒力。