NON-TUBERCULOSIS MYCOBACTERIA SPECIES CIRCULATING IN THE SIBERIAN FEDERAL DISTRICT OF RUSSIA

Introduction. Non-tuberculous mycobacteria are ubiquitous; they are widespread in soil and water, including plumbing, aquariums, hot water supply systems, and air conditioning systems. Currently, more than 200 species of non-tuberculous mycobacteria are known, of which about 60 species have proven clinical significance, the rest are widespread in the environment, and little is known about their ability to cause diseases. Aim. The purpose of this study was to investigate the species diversity of non-tuberculous mycobacteria circulating in the Siberian Federal District of Russia. Materials and Methods. Two typical regions of the Siberian Federal District were selected for the study: Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions. Mycobacteria were cultured from patients’ sputum samples: 45 samples from the State Regional Clinical Tuberculosis Hospital and 106 from the Regional Department of Tomsk Phthisiopulmonology Medical Center. Further, non-tuberculous mycobacteria were identified by species, using the time-of-flight mass-spectrometry and the extraction with formic acid on an instrument according to the study protocol. Statistical processing of the study results was carried out using Microsoft Excel 2016 computer programs for Windows. Extensive indicators (the percentage of patients with detected pathogen drug resistance to the total number of patients, whose material was tested) were also calculated, and the boundaries of 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were defined for the proportion (Fisher’s method). Statistical calculation of the research results was carried out in Microsoft Excel 2016. Results and Discussion. Among the slow-growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria species, Mycobacterium Avium complex is most common. Mycobacterium simie complex, Mycobacterium lentiflavum, and Mycobacterium parascorfulaceum were found less frequently. There were also Mycobacterium terrae complex and Mycobacterium nonchromogenicum found. The slow-growing mycobacteria, currently not grouped into a complex, include Mycobacterium Mycobacterium szulgae and Mycobacterium gordonae. Mycobacterium abscessus / Mycobacterium chelonae complex dominated among the fast-growing mycobacteria species. Mycobacterium fortuitum complex was a less common complex. Conclusions. For the first time, diversity was assessed and the dominant strains of mycobacteria circulating in the Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions were identified, which gives an idea of the main target strains, at which the main preventive and sanitizing measures should be targeted