A molecular epidemiological study of Mycobacterium simiae isolated from AIDS patients in Guadeloupe

A molecular epidemiological study of Mycobacterium simiae strains isolated from AIDS patients in Guadeloupe was performed by the random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of DraI- or XbaI-digested bacterial DNAs. A comparison of RAPD profiles suggested a similarity of banding patterns within a group of patients (two clusters of two and three patients), but the available epidemiological and clinical information did not support this finding. PFGE, on the other hand, showed that all the patients were contaminated with individual isolates. Combined numerical analysis performed by compiling the PFGE patterns obtained after XbaI and DraI digestions of bacterial DNAs suggested the occurrence of polyclonal infection in three of nine patients. Our results do not support a common source of M. simiae infection in Guadeloupe.