We report a woman in whom a slow-growing scotochromogenic strain of Mycobacterium was cultured from skin lesions. According to its phenotypic and biochemical characteristics we could predict only that it might be M. szulgai, M. scrofulaceum or M. gordonae. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of the hsp65 gene and subsequent restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis on the isolated strain showed that its restriction pattern differed from both M. scrofulaceum and other scotochromogenic species. Ninety-nine per cent similarity was detected between the isolated strain and M. gordonae by sequencing of the hsp65 gene. This result suggests that the isolated strain may be either a slow-growing scotochromogenic Mycobacterium most resembling M. gordonae or a novel mycobacterial species.

This article reports the identification of 57 AFB cultures isolated from clinical specimens by using traditional methods (TM, including biochemical and cultural methods) and modern ELISA with monoclonal antibody (McAb-ELISA) and nested primer gene amplification assay (NPGAA). The representive AFB culture M. A1, A7, A19, A21 and A22) isolated from human lepromas were identified as new species by TM and it was shown that they were not identical to M. leprae by McAb-ELISA and NPGAA. Among another set of samples (M. S17, S1, S2, S2R, S7, S29), M. S17 was identical to M. scrofulaceum as assessed by TM only, while the others were found to be similar to M. tuberculosis and different from M. leprae using TM and McAb-ELISA, and identical to M. tuberculosis with NPGAA. The authors conclude that TM and MM are very useful for identifying mycobacteria, while MM was much more sensitive and specific than TM. The selection and use of these methods depends on practical need.

对检测麻风菌用的几种PCR方法进行了比较研究。这些PCR以编码麻风菌65KD、36KD、18KD、groEL和16s rRNA的基因为基础。比较用的指标是敏感性、特异性、简易快速和节省试剂，结果显示以编码麻风菌65KD抗原的基因为基础的PCR(此法原为Woods报告，后经我们优化改良)为最实用，其检测下限为10～100条麻风菌，与其它已知的分枝菌无交叉反应，用单对引物，仅需30个循环，以2．5～3个小时就能完成实验，且用料仅为其它常用反应体系的l／2，敏感性高、特异性强，简单、快速、价廉，故适于推广应用。

ELISA法测定各型银屑病患者及正常对照血清中抗β-溶血性链球菌的整菌、培养液和胞浆提取物的IgG、IgM和 IgA类抗体。显示各型银屑病患者血清中存在不同水平的抗此菌3类成分的抗体，3类成分的IgM类抗体在各型银屑病均高于正常对照（P<0.05）；银屑病各型之间的比较，在3类成分中主要是点滴状和斑块状银屑病的IgG类抗体与其余型别不同，明显升高（P<0.05），但两者之间无差异。研究表明各型银屑病中抗β-溶血性链球菌及其相关提取物的抗体水平可能不同，IgM类抗体的检测提示此微生物与银屑病病因相关的可能一致性，抗β-溶血性链球菌整菌的IgG抗体与银屑病的型别可能有关联。

目的：初步分析重组梅毒螺旋体抗原对梅毒螺旋体抗体的反应性。方法：用蛋白印迹技术检测与麦芽糖结合蛋白(MBP)融合的2种重组梅毒螺旋体蛋白(rTP47 和rTP17)与二期梅毒患者血清的反应性。结果：30份二期梅毒患者血清均与MBP2rTP47和MBP2rTP17反应,反应强度与RPR试验测定的血清滴度无绝对一致性，但MBP2rTP17与二期梅毒患者血清的反应强于MBP2rTP47。30份正常人血清均不与MBP2rTP47和MBP2rTP17反应。结论：MBP2rTP47和MBP2rTP17对二期梅毒患者血清的反应性较强。