Nocardia thailandica Pulmonary Nocardiosis in a Post-Solid Organ Transplant Patient

Joseph Canterino; Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi; Barbara A Brown-Elliott; Wilson Vientos; Ravikiran Vasireddy; Richard J Wallace Jr; Sheldon Campbell

doi:10.1128/JCM.00959-15

Nocardia thailandica Pulmonary Nocardiosis in a Post-Solid Organ Transplant Patient

J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Nov;53(11):3686-90. doi: 10.1128/JCM.00959-15. Epub 2015 Aug 19.

Authors

Joseph Canterino¹, Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi², Barbara A Brown-Elliott³, Wilson Vientos⁴, Ravikiran Vasireddy³, Richard J Wallace Jr³, Sheldon Campbell⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine/Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
² Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine/Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, USA albertopaniz@yahoo.com.
³ Department of Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Mycobacteria/Nocardia Laboratory, Tyler, Texas, USA.
⁴ Laboratory of Microbiology, VA Connecticut Healthcare, West Haven, Connecticut, USA.
⁵ Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine/Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Laboratory of Microbiology, VA Connecticut Healthcare, West Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Abstract

Nocardia thailandica is a rare pathogen related to Nocardia asteroides, Nocardia neocaledoniensis, and Nocardia caishijiensis that, since its original description in 2004, has only been reported to cause wound and ocular infections in humans. We report a case of pulmonary nocardiosis caused by Nocardia thailandica in a 66-year-old solid organ transplant patient from Connecticut, which was identified at the molecular taxonomic level by secA1 analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of N. thailandica in the United States and the first report of pulmonary infection by this pathogen in the literature.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Adenosine Triphosphatases / genetics
Aged
Bacterial Proteins / genetics
Base Sequence
Connecticut
DNA, Bacterial / genetics
DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
Heart Transplantation / adverse effects
Humans
Immunocompromised Host / immunology*
Immunosuppression Therapy / adverse effects
Lung Diseases / diagnosis*
Lung Diseases / immunology
Lung Diseases / microbiology
Male
Membrane Transport Proteins / genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Nocardia / isolation & purification*
Nocardia Infections / diagnosis*
Nocardia Infections / immunology*
Nocardia Infections / microbiology
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
SEC Translocation Channels
SecA Proteins
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

Substances

Bacterial Proteins
DNA, Bacterial
DNA, Ribosomal
Membrane Transport Proteins
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
SEC Translocation Channels
Adenosine Triphosphatases
SecA Proteins