Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis logoLink to Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis
. 2008 Nov 19;22(6):415–420. doi: 10.1002/jcla.20278

Spread of nontuberculous mycobacteria from 1993 to 2006 in Koreans

Sung Weon Ryoo 1,2, Sonya Shin 3, Myung‐shup Shim 1, Yoon‐Sung Park 1, Woo Jin Lew 1, Sue‐Nie Park 4, Young Kil Park 1, Seongman Kang 2,✉
PMCID: PMC6649107  PMID: 19021271

Abstract

In Korea, the prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease has risen, observed primarily in immunocompetent patients with or without preexisting lung disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of various species of NTM isolates from respiratory specimens in a single institution over a 14‐year period in Korea. All samples referred to our reference laboratory over a 14‐year period in Korea were analyzed. From 1993 to 2000 our laboratory used conventional NTM identification methods, and from 2001 we adapted PCR‐restrictionfragment length polymorphism analysis(PRA). A total of 17,915 isolates were collected from 1993 to 2006. The most frequently isolated organisms were M. avium complex (n=11,705, 65%), M. abscessus (n=2,076, 11.59%), M. fortuitum complex (n=1,279, 7.14%). M. chelonae complex (n=1,134, 6.33%), M. kansasii (n=762, 4.25%), M. szulgai (n=139, 0.78%), M. celatum (n=87, 0.49%), M. scrofulaceum (n=18, 0.10%) and M. marium (n=11, 0.06%). J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 22:415–420, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Keywords: identification, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), PCR‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PRA)

REFERENCES

  • 1. Somoskovi A, Mester J, Hale YM, Parsons LM, Salfinger M. Laboratory diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacteria. Clin Chest Med 2002;23:585–597. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2. Khan K, Wang J, Marras TK. Nontuberculous mycobacterial sensitization in the United States: National trends over three decades. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2007;176:306–313. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3. Vu TT, Daniel SJ, Quach C. Nontuberculous mycobacteria in children: a changing pattern. J Otolaryngol 2005;34:S40–S44. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4. Horsburgh CR Jr. Epidemiology of disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria. Semin Respir Infect 1996;11:244–251. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5. David EG, Timothy A, Barbara A, et al. An official ATS/IDSA statement: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2007;175:367–416. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6. British Thoracic Society . Management of opportunist mycobacterial infections: Joint Tuberculosis Committee Guidelines 1999. Thorax 2000;55:210–218. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7. Field SK, Cowie RL. Lung disease due to the more common nontuberculous mycobacteria. Chest 2006;129:1653–1672. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8. American Thoracic Society . Diagnosis and treatment of disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1997;156:S1–S25. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9. Marras TK, Daley CL. Epidemiology of human pulmonary infection with nontuberculous mycobacteria. Clin Chest Med 2002;23:553–567. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10. Koh WJ, Kwon OJ, Lee KS. Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary diseases in immunocompetent patients. Korean J Radiol 2002;3:145–157. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11. Koh WJ, Kwon OJ. Treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary diseases. Tuberc Respir Dis 2004;56:5–17. [Google Scholar]
  • 12. Koh WJ, Kwon OJ, Jeon K, et al. Clinical significance of nontuberculous mycobacteria isolated from respiratory specimens in Korea. Chest 2006;129:341–348. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13. Koh WJ, Yu CM, Suh GY, et al. Pulmonary TB and NTM lung disease: Comparison of characteristics in patients with AFB smear‐positive sputum. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2006;10:1001–1007. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14. Hong YP, Kim SJ, Lew WJ, et al. The seventh nationwide tuberculosis prevalence survey in Korea, 1995. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 1998;2:27–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15. van Crevel R, de Lange WC, Vanderpuye NA, et al. The impact of nontuberculous mycobacteria on management of presumed pulmonary tuberculosis. Infection 2001;29:59–63. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16. Medical Section of the American Lung Association . Diagnosis and treatment of disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria. This official statement of the American Thoracic Society was approved by the Board of Directors, March 1997. Medical Section of the American Lung Association. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1997;156:S1–S25. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17. Han D, Lee KS, Koh WJ, et al. Radiographic and CT findings of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection caused by Mycobacterium abscessus . Am J Roentgenol 2003;181:513–517. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18. Jeong YJ, Lee KS, Koh WJ, et al. Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection in immunocompetent patients: comparison of thin‐section CT and histopathologic findings. Radiology 2004;231:880–886. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19. Koh WJ, Lee KS, Kwon OJ, et al. Bilateral bronchiectasis and bronchiolitis at thin‐section CT: diagnostic implications in nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection. Radiology 2005;235:282–288. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20. Kim TS, Koh WJ, Han J, et al. Hypothesis on the evolution of cavitary lesions in nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection: thin‐section CT and histopathologic correlation. Am J Roentgenol 2005;184:1247–1252. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21. American Thoracic Society . Diagnostic standards and classification of tuberculosis in adults and children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000;161:1376–1395. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22. Patricia TK, George PK. Public Health Mycobacteriology: A Guide for the Level III Laboratory. Centers for Disease Control (US), US Department of Health and Human Services; 1985. [Google Scholar]
  • 23. Metchock B, Nolte FS, Wallace RJ. Mycobacterium. 1999. p 399–437.
  • 24. Murray PR, Baron EJ, Pfaller MA, Tenover FC, Yolken RH, editors. Manual of Clinical Microbiology. 1999. Washington, DC: ASM Press. [Google Scholar]
  • 25. Witebsky FG, Kruczak‐Filipov P. Identification of mycobacteria by conventional methods. Clin Lab Med 1996;16:569–601. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26. Lee H, Park HJ, Cho SN, Bai GH, Kim SJ. Species identification of mycobacteria by PCR‐restriction fragment length polymorphism of the rpoB gene. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:2966–2971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27. Lee H, Park HJ, Cho SN, et al. Species identification of mycobacteria by PCR‐restriction fragment length polymorphism of the rpoB gene. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:2966–2971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28. Kim BJ, Lee KH, Park BN, et al. Differentiation of mycobacterial species by PCR‐restriction analysis of DNA (342 base pairs) of the RNA polymerase gene (rpoB).J Clin Microbiol 2001;39:2102–2109. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29. Henry MT, Inamdar L, O'Riordain D, Schweiger M, Watson JP. Nontuberculous mycobacteria in non‐HIV patients: epidemiology, treatment and response. Eur Respir J 2004;23:741–746. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30. Kennedy MP, O'Connor TM, Ryan C, Sheehan S, Cryan B, Bredin C. Nontuberculous mycobacteria: incidence in Southwest Ireland from 1987 to 2000. Respir Med 2003;97:257–263. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31. O'Brien RJ, Geiter LJ, Snider DE Jr. The epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases in the United States. Results from a national survey. Am Rev Respir Dis 1987;135:1007–1014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32. Kusunoki S, Ezaki T. Proposal of Mycobacterium peregrinum sp. nov., nom. rev., and elevation of Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. abscessus (Kubica et al.) to species status: Mycobacterium abscessus comb. nov. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1992;42:240–245. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33. Martin‐Casabona N, Bahrmand AR, Bennedsen J, et al. Non‐tuberculous mycobacteria: patterns of isolation. A multi‐country retrospective survey. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2004;8:1186–1193. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34. Tsukamura M, Kita N, Shimoide H, et al. Studies on the epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacteriosis in Japan. Am Rev Respir Dis 1988;137:1280–1284. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis are provided here courtesy of Wiley

RESOURCES