[Bacteriological tests for tuberculosis]

Advances in image-guided drug delivery for antibacterial therapy

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains is seriously endangering the global healthcare system. There is an urgent need for combining imaging with therapies to realize the real-time monitoring of pathological condition and treatment progress. It also provides guidance on exploring new medicines and enhance treatment strategies to overcome the antibiotic resistance of existing conventional antibiotics. In this review, we provide a thorough overview of the most advanced image-guided approaches for bacterial diagnosis (e.g., computed tomography imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, photoacoustic imaging, ultrasound imaging, fluorescence imaging, positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography imaging, and multiple imaging), and therapies (e.g., photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, chemodynamic therapy, sonodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, and multiple therapies). This review focuses on how to design and fabricate photo-responsive materials for improved image-guided bacterial theranostics applications. We present a potential application of different image-guided modalities for both bacterial diagnosis and therapies with representative examples. Finally, we highlighted the current challenges and future perspectives image-guided approaches for future clinical translation of nano-theranostics in bacterial infections therapies. We envision that this review will provide for future development in image-guided systems for bacterial theranostics applications.

Revisiting the methods for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis: what has the new millennium brought thus far?

Tuberculosis (TB) affects around 10 million people worldwide in 2019. Approximately 3.4 % of new TB cases are multidrug-resistant. The gold standard method for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is the aetiological agent of TB, is still based on microbiological culture procedures, followed by species identification and drug sensitivity testing. Sputum is the most commonly obtained clinical specimen from patients with pulmonary TB. Although smear microscopy is a low-cost and widely used method, its sensitivity is 50-60 %. Thus, owing to the need to improve the performance of current microbiological tests to provide prompt treatment, different methods with varied sensitivity and specificity for TB diagnosis have been developed. Here we discuss the existing methods developed over the past 20 years, including their strengths and weaknesses. In-house and commercial methods have been shown to be promising to achieve rapid diagnosis. Combining methods for mycobacterial detection systems demonstrates a correlation of 100 %. Other assays are useful for the simultaneous detection of M. tuberculosis species and drug-related mutations. Novel approaches have also been employed to rapidly identify and quantify total mycobacteria RNA, including assessments of global gene expression measured in whole blood to identify the risk of TB. Spoligotyping, mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing are also promising technologies; however, their cost needs to be reduced so that low- and middle-income countries can access them. Because of the large impact of M. tuberculosis infection on public health, the development of new methods in the context of well-designed and -controlled clinical trials might contribute to the improvement of TB infection control.

[Multidrug-resistant extrapulmonary tuberculosis: about 7 cases]

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a major challenge for the World Health Organization. Its growing incidence and the diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties make it a public health problem especially in the developing countries. We report two cases of extrapulmonary drug-resistant tuberculosis (nodal and osteo-articular) and five cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (pleural, nodal, anal and neuro-meningeal) in hospitalized patients at the Hopital Moulay Youssef in Rabat. This study reports the issue of drug-resistant TB and highlights the role of genotypic tests in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.

Mycotic Aortic Aneurysm and Infected Aortic Graft After Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Treatment for Bladder Cancer

Although intravesical therapy with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has proven its efficiency in the treatment of early-stage bladder cancer, infectious complications can occur and mycotic aneurysms represent a rare but life-threatening complication. Here, we report the case of an aortic graft infection in a patient with abdominal aortic aneurysm who received BCG instillations for the treatment of bladder cancer. Based on the current knowledge on this rare vascular complication, we discuss factors that may have contributed to its occurrence and review issues to optimize its management and early detection.

[Investigation and management of genito-urinary tuberculosis]

Genito-urinary tuberculosis is the fourth most common manifestation of the disease, but it is often underestimated by clinicians because of few and non-specific symptoms and insidious disease course. The most common urinary findings are multiple ureteral stenosis. The most common genital involvement is an epididymal nodule for men and a chronic salpingitis for women. The definite diagnosis of genito-urinary tuberculosis is obtained on the basis of culture studies. Due to the paucibacillary nature of the disease, especially of genital location in woman, a probable or presumptive diagnosis is frequently considered with several parameters including radiological imaging (abdominal CT-scan, pelvic ultrasound, pelvic MRI). Endoscopic and surgical procedures are frequently required to obtain specimens for histopathologic and bacteriological studies. Medical treatment is the method of choice, with a combination of four drugs, namely isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide, followed by a two-drug regimen, for a total of six month duration. Surgery might be indicated in complicated genito-urinary tuberculosis (decreased renal function, infertility, urologic complaints).

[Diagnostic difficulty for an acute hydrocephalus]

Tuberculosis disease, in its extra pulmonary form, remains a difficult diagnosis because of its atypical symptoms and evolution. We have observed a case of acute tuberculosis neuromeningitis, without being able to make a definite diagnosis prior to the patient's death because of the negativity of the initial bacteriological samples. We started the most probable appropriate treatment but in vain. This case allows us to challenge diagnostic methods and resulting treatments in emergency cases where tuberculosis is suspected. Moreover, it seems essential to do everything possible to find the bacterium when confronted with a patient with risk factors and clinical and radiological symptoms compatible with tubercular disease, before the disease becomes acute.