Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Processing of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid and Matched Blood for Alveolar Macrophage and CD4+ T-cell Immunophenotyping and HIV Reservoir Assessment
Published on: June 23, 2019
Disease due to the Mycobacterium avium complex in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: diagnosis and
1Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-0743.
Abstract:
Because the symptoms and laboratory abnormalities associated with disseminated disease due to the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) are nonspecific, diagnosis requires recovery of the organism from blood or other normally sterile body sites. Isolation of MAC by conventional mycobacterial culture on tubed solid medium generally takes 3-4 weeks. This interval can be decreased to 5-12 days with the radiometric BACTEC TB system and to 12-19 days with Septi-Chek AFB. For diagnosis of MAC bacteremia, blood is inoculated directly into a BACTEC TB 13A blood culture vial. For quantitative cultures, blood is collected in an Isolator lysis-centrifugation tube, and the sediment of the processed sample is inoculated onto agar plates. MAC is identified by conventional biochemical tests, which take several weeks or months, or with commercial DNA probes or chromatography, each of which provides results in a few hours. No standardized reference method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing exists, and no correlation between in vitro results and clinical efficacy is clear. Isolates appear more sensitive in broth than on agar. Evaluation of susceptibility in macrophage and animal models is helpful because drugs concentrated in cells may be more efficacious against MAC--an intracellular pathogen--than would be predicted by results in cell-free systems.
Related Concept Videos
Immunodeficiency Diseases
There are three main causes of immunodeficiency disorders...
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Pulmonary Tuberculosis I
Causative Organism
The primary infectious agent causing tuberculosis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow-growing, acid-fast, aerobic rod that exhibits sensitivity to heat and ultraviolet light. Instances of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium contributing to the development of TB infection are rare.
Mode of...
Pulmonary Tuberculosis IV
Several diagnostic approaches are used to detect TB. The conventional method is the Tuberculin Skin Test (TST), also known as the Mantoux test. However, this method has...
Cytomegalovirus Disease
Cryptococcal Meningitis

