Mycoplasma organisms in synovial fluid from rheumatic joints

CULTURE OF HUMAN GENITAL "T-STRAIN" PLEUROPNEUMONIA-LIKE ORGANISMS

Ford, Denys K. (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). Culture of human genital "T-strain" pleuropneumonia-like organisms. J. Bacteriol. 84:1028-1034. 1962.-The conditions under which "T-strain" pleuropneumonia-like organisms, as described by Shepard, are best cultured were investigated. The organisms were found to grow on several types of nutrient agar and broth, of which PPLO medium supplemented with yeast extract and horse serum was the simplest. Subculture was possible through broth cultures, provided the broths were not incubated longer than 16 hr. The organisms on agar required either Fortner's anaerobic atmosphere or 10% CO(2), but broth cultures grew aerobically. "T-strains" grew over a pH range of 6.8 to 7.8, and a temperature range of 30 to 36 C. They were viable after storage for 16 days at 4 C and for 90 days at -20 C, and they resisted lyophilization. They were sensitive to 1.5 mug per ml of tetracycline and streptomycin, but were resistant to ampicillin and penicillin. Quantitative studies showed maximal concentration in broth of 10(6) to 10(7) organisms per ml, and logarithmic multiplication for the first 12 hr of broth culture, with a subsequent rapid decline in number. Colonial morphology was maintained after numerous subcultures.

Reactive arthritis

Reactive arthritis is a rare complication of certain infections. The similar features and HLA associations with the seronegative arthropathies have raised the possibility that the latter may be forms of reactive arthritis. This review describes the clinical and epidemiological features, and the recent advances in our understanding of the underlying pathogenesis of reactive arthritis.

Oral mycoplasmas in Sjögren's syndrome

Mycoplasmas were sought in the salivary secretions and minor salivary gland tissue of 26 patients with Sjögren's syndrome or the allied sicca complex. A mycoplasma (M. orale type 1) was recovered from the stimulated parotid saliva of only one case. Possible mechanisms of mycoplasmal cell damage in this and allied disorders are considered and some future lines of investigation are suggested.

Search for mycoplasma in rheumatoid arthritis

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