MAC

Presented by: Lynsie Kamppi, Del Marie Patton, and Maureen Horsch

Specific Term

• MAC(Mycobacterium avium complex)

• MIC(Mycobacterium intracellulare complex)

• MAC affects lungs, spleen, lymph nodes, and intestines

Characteristics• Found in HIV patients or individuals with compromised immune

systems

• One of many different types of Mycobacterium species

• Classified as an acid-fast gram positive bacilli

• Slender, nonmotile, and does not produce spores or capsules

• Composed of aerobic species

• Grows slowly, often requiring a month or more to form a visible colony on an agar surface

• Usually found in people with under 50 T4 cells

• Outer cell walls consist of mycolic acids, making the cells resistant to desiccation and to staining with water based dyes

• Chemotrophs(use various metabolic pathways)

• Enters through airways and invades macrophages where they become overwhelmed by replicating bacilli and die

Resistance to Rifampin and INH

• Rifampin resistance results from chromosomal mutation that alters the binding site on an enzyme

• INH(Isoniazid) resistance is due to random mutations of bacterial chromosomes that result in reduced drug uptake or alterations of target sites

Exchange DNA Method

• The DNA exchange method is transformation, because it kills macrophages and the bacteria takes over.

Treatment

• Suggested treatment would be azithromycin or clarithromycin. Effective treatment should continue for life

Prognosis

• Most likely the patient will not conform to taking this treatment for life

• The Mycobacterium may become resistant to these drugs

• The HIV virus will eventually take the patients life

Precautions

• Drinking water should be boiled

• Avoid contact with animals, especially birds and bird droppings. Pigeons carry MAC

• Avoid raw food and unpasteurized dairy products