[Identification of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare using three DNA probe tests, and their distributions in Japan].

Identification of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was made using three DNA probe tests for MAC: Gen-Probe Rapid Diagnostic System for the MAC (Gen-Probe Inc., San Diego, U.S.A.), AccuProbe MAC Culture Identification or Confirmation Test (Gen-Probe Inc.); and SNAP Culture Identification Diagnostic Kit (MAC) (Syngene Inc., San Diego, U.S.A.). Various strains of MAC belonging to serovars 21 to 28 were identified by the DNA probe tests and showed the following. First, Serovar 21 and 25 belonged to M. avium and M. intracellulare, respectively. Each of them reacted with species-specific probes used in the three DNA probe tests [i.e., either M. avium-probe (in SNAP test; Probe A) or M. intracellulare-probe (in SNAP test; Probe I)]. Second, serovars 22-24 and 26-28 consisted of M. intracellulare, MAC strains that reacted with Probe X of SNAP test but lacked the reactivity with M. avium- and M. intracellulare probes of all the DNA probe tests, M. scrofulaceum that showed no reactivity with M. avium- or M. intracellulare-probe or Probe X, and M. scrofulaceum that had only the reactivity with Probe X. When the disease-associated MAC strains (35 strains), isolated in the Kanto to Kyushu areas in Japan, were identified using AccuProbe test, both the M. avium and M. intracellulare strains identified by the Gen-Probe test reacted with the MAC-probe but not with the M. tuberculosis complex (MTC)-probe.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)