• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.235-241
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• 2002

The detection of tubercle bacilli (TB) from sputum smear is one of the fast and inexpensive methods for diagnosis of tuberculosis. For this method. sputum smears are usually flexed by heating and stained by acid-fast staining method, and then examined under an optical microscope. Two Procedures are commonly used fur TB staining. One is hot staining and the other is cold staining method. The Ziehl-Neelsen method which is a hot staining method is widely used in Korea because its stained color is more vivid However, the conventional automated stainer has to fix the sputum smear on a slide manually and the stain is not so vivid because it has not heating function. In an effort to save labor and minimize variations in manual staining Procedure. we developed an automated stainer with heating function. The entire staining process is fully automated. from fixation to final washing and drying. With the automated methods, five slides can be flexed and stained in 21 minutes at consistent high quality We compared the concordance rate between the two methods for 91 sputum samples to validate the stain quality of the developed automated stainer. As the results, the concordant rate between the two methods was 95% and there was no significant difference (p>0.05)

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1847-1850
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• 2009

Bovine tuberculosis is generally detected postmortem because it is a chronic debilitating disease. Since tuberculosis is mainly found in the lungs, clinical signs including coughing, nasal discharge, and difficulty breathing can occur in severe instances. In the present study, specimens were collected from the heart, liver, kidney, lung, pleural cavities, lymph nodes and intestines of carcasses found in an abattoir. According to post-mortem examination and inspection of carcasses, tuberculosis lesions were varied in appearance and size. Tubercles of a white cream color were disseminated throughout the pleural cavity including the lymph nodes, lungs and mesentery containing pus. Gram and Ziehl-Neelsen's acid-fast staining for the lung and lymph nodes revealed a highly positive histochemical reaction. The acid-fast organisms were observed histologically in the lesions under a microscope. This report demonstrated the histopathology of bovine tuberculosis based on the histological findings of Mycobacterium bovis, which is a suspected causative agent.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.443-447
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• 2007

A 7-year-old, female snow goose (Anser caerulescens hyperboreus) with history of decreased activity for 2 month died in Daejeon Zoo Land in September 2006. At necropsy, granulomatous pneumonia and hepatomegaly with multiple cysts were observed. Small masses were found in the spleen. Microscopically, fibrinous pneumonia distributed in most of the lung lobe with pulmonary edema and congestion. Especially, granulomatous inflammation with numerous multinucleated giant cells was observed around the dilated bronchi. To confirm the diagnosis, acid-fast (Ziehl-Neelsen method) and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining was performed. Acid-fast staining showed red bacterial colony indicating tuberculosis. PAS staining was also positive enough to diagnose aspergillus spp. co-infection that was an opportunistic fungi occurring in immuno-compromised animals. Based on the above results, we confirmed that the case submitted was diagnosed as avian tuberculosis.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 1996

Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis is still an important cause of neck mass in Korea. Tuberculosis is an important differential diagnosis in patients of cervical lymphadenopathy. Rapid and sensitive test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis is essential for the approapiate treatment. Up to now, conventional diagnostic methods for M. tuberculosis were acid-fast bacilli(AFB) stain and culture of M. tuberculosis. The direct microscopic examination of AFB by Ziehl-Neelsen stain is rapid, but often negative. The culture for M. tuberculosis is time-consuming, taking 4 to 8 weeks. Recently various methods to detect Mycobacterial DNA, including PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) analysis have been reported. Here we represent a simple method for the confirmation of M. tuberculosis and exclusion of the other Mycobacterial species by RFLP analysis and silver staining of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after nested PCR for a repetitive DNA sequence(IS986) specific for M. tuberculosis from fresh or paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens. This result leads us to conclude that this method is simple, rapid and possibly applicable to confirm M. tuberculosis and rule out the other Mycobacteria species from the clinical specimens in the clinical laboratories.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.4
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• pp.342-346
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• 2011

Herein we report the case of a 71-year-old woman who complained of fatigue and enlarged right axillary lymph nodes for 18 months. At her first visit, her chest X-ray showed diffuse nodular opacities in both lung fields. Initial excisional biopsy of the axillary lymph nodes showed granulomatous lesions and acid fast bacilli were seen on Ziehl-Neelsen staining. However, even after 15 months of anti-tuberculosis (TB) medication, her right axillary lymph nodes were enlarged. We re-performed an excisional biopsy of the nodes, which showed Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). A retrograde review of the biopsy before anti-tuberculous medication, revealed HL coexisting with TB. HL and TB cause difficulties in differential diagnosis due to similarities in clinical course, imaging procedures and histopathological analysis of the involved tissue. Therefore, it is important to consider the possibility of concurrent HL and TB when patients who undergo treatment for TB or chemotherapy for lymphoma complain of persistent systemic symptoms or enlarged lymph nodes.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.271-279
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• 1998

Background: Diagnosis by direct microscopy and/or by culture of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis from body fluids or biopsy specimens is "Gold standard". However, the sensitivity of direct microscopy after Ziehl-Neelsen staining is relatively low and culture of mycobacteria is time consuming. Detection of mycobacterial DNA in clinical samples by the polymerase chain reaction is highly sensitive but laborious and expensive. Therefore, rapid, sensitive and readily applicable new tests need to be developed. So we had evaluated the clinical significance of serologic detection of antibody to 38 kDa antigen, which is known as the most specific to the M. tuberculosis complex, and culture filtrate antigen by ELISA in sputum AFB smear negative patients. Method: In this study, culture tests for acid fast bacilli with sputa or bronchial washing fluids of 183 consecutive patients who were negative of sputum AFB smear were performed. Simultaneously serum antibodies to 38 kDa antigen and unheated culture filtrate of M. tuberculosis were detected by an ELISA method. Results: The optical densities of ELISA test with 38 kDa and culture filtrate antigen were significantly higher in active pulmonary tuberculosis cases than in non tuberculous pulmonary diseases (p<0.05), but in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, those of the sputum culture positive patients for M. tuberculosis were not significantly different from those of the sputum culture negative cases(p>0.05). In the smear-negative active pulmonary tuberculosis patients, the sensitivity of the ELISA using 38 kDa antigen and culture filtrate was 20.0% and 31.4%. respectively. The specificity was 95.3% and 93.9%. respectively. Conclusion : In active pulmonary tuberculosis but smear negative, the serologic detection of antibody to 38 kDa antigen and culture filtrate by ELISA cannot substitute traditional diagnostic tests and does not have clinically significant role to differenciate the patient with active pulmonary tuberculosis from other with non-tuberculous pulmonary diseases.