#multi's a nine-banded armadillo

[theboxfort]

Forgot to post this here but I just wanted to draw furries, so here's my object OCs as animals

Government assigned fursonas:

Blendy - Tresher shark SL - Giraffe Barbie - Cow Multi - Nine-banded armadillo Sword - Horse Coco - Capybara Spruce - Reindeer Chicken Basket - Guess. Kite - Flying squirrel or a manta ray (both are cool) Ouija Board - Giant isopod Chisel - Goat Joe - Jackrabbit Egg Timer - Canary Vendy - Emperor Penguin Water Hose - Anaconda Love Axe - Bear

[lakhasly]

In the 1970s, leprosy multi-drug antibiotic treatments were refined using leprosy bacteria grown in armadillos and were then tested in human clinical trials. Today, the nine-banded armadillo is still used to culture the bacteria that causes leprosy, for studies of the proteomics and genomics (the ge via Lakhasly.com Rss Feed

[oofta-oofta]

Mycobacterial Infections

Mycobacteria contains lipoarabinomannan, mycolic acids, arabinogalactan, peptidoglycan and a cell membrane, meaning they must be visualised with the Ziehl Neelsen technique. 

Types of infectious mycobacteria:

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium leprae

Mycobacterium bovis

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare 

Mycobacterium scrofulaceum 

Mycobacterium avium complex

Mycobacterium leprae

Mycobacterium leprae is a rod, and causes infection, inflammation and damage in the nerves. It can take 20 years to manifest. Not very infectious. It can't be cultivated, apart from in the foot pads of the nine-banded armadillo, and underwent reductive evolution, removing metabolic pathways. It is a rod, and acid fast.

There are two manifestations of leprosy: tuberculoid (Paucibacillary) and lepromatous (Multibacillary). 

Tuberculoid leprosy involves a cellular immune response, with t-cell and macrophage activation. The bacteria are engulfed and destroyed.

Lepromatous leprosy gives the leonine appearance, and is dangerous as it is humeral uncontrolled. The difference is obvious in ZN, as organism can proliferate. 

It is treated dependent on the type using Multi Drug Therapy.

PB= Paucibacillary (Tuberculoid) - less MB= Multibacillary (Lepromatous) - lots!

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

M. tuberculosis has undergone reductivity, but can still grow it on culture plates egg-based media in 7-8 weeks. Presumptive identification is longer than a few days

An alternative is bronchoalveolar leverage. This is put on a plate and observed with microscopy, but is very time consuming. However, only 1 bacillus per 90-100 fields is needed for identification; though a single pink rod is hard to spot. Auramine-rhodamine allows florescence, making it easier.

PCR uses primers specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis - link as quantitative PCR. monitors realtime.

Malnourishment and overcrowding allows proliferation. It has been the cause of death for ¼ of all people. TB is carried by ⅓ world’s population, and 8 million develop it each year.

Primary Pulmonary Tuberculosis - obligate aerobe, grows at top of lungs. Pulmonary TB comes from inhalation of respiratory droplets. It causes caseous necrosis and severe destruction. It can avoid phagocytosis or escape a macrophage. can evade killing mechanism reactive oxygen species The immune system produces granuloma to contain the infection, but the immune system must then remain active to prevent it reactivating.

Symptoms include persistent cough for more than 3 weeks, night sweats, weight loss and high temperature.

It can recur with old age, alcoholism, immunosuppression and existing lung diseases. Co-infection with AIDS is not a good prognosis.

It can stain with Ziehl Neelsen and the auramine-rhodamine methods.

TB can be extensively drug resistant, and not necessarily in the lungs. Mycobacterium tuberculosis osteomyelitis is given away as it can enter spine and hips, and TB can also affect the kidneys. Bone pitting is an indicator when analysing skeleton.

Streptomycin - first antimicrobial agent against TB, can penetrate mycelia acid. Rifampicin also (and against leprosy). isoniazid also.

‘millet seeds’ - diffuse or systemic

Mycobacterium bovis

Bovine Tuberculosis is acquired from unpasteurised milk, leading to around 40 cases per year in the UK. It is caused by cattle, and the source of infection is either cattle or badgers.

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare 

can infect AIDS patients.

Mycobacterium scrofulaceum/Mycobacterium avid complex

And also normal TB can cause scrofula. It is a superficial skin infection which causes lymphadenitis (infection of the neck/cervical lymph nodes). These often go black as they necrose. This usually only develops in immunocompromised people.

Treatments

Both tuberculosis and leprosy can be treated with the broad spectrum rifampicin. It is a semi-synthetic version of rifamycin. It is bactericidal, inhibiting the transcription enzyme ‘DNA DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE’.

Rifampicin is taken orally with a ½ life of 1-5 hours, and resistance builds quickly. It can cause GIT disturbance, hepatoxicity and rashes, but it’s worth it, right?