Case Report
Mendelian Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Disease: The First
Case of a Diagnosed Adult Patient in the Czech Republic
Miroslav Prucha ,
1
Hana Grombirikova ,
2,3
Pavel Zdrahal ,
4
Marketa Bloomfield ,
5,6
Zuzana Parackova ,
5
and Tomas Freiberger
2,3
1
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Hematology and Immunology, Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
2
Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantation, Brno, Czech Republic
3
Medical Faculty, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
4
Department of Vascular Surgery, Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
5
Department of Immunology, Motol University Hospital and Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University,
Prague, Czech Republic
6
Department of Pediatrics, omayer’s Hospital and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Correspondence should be addressed to Miroslav Prucha; miroslav.prucha@homolka.cz
Received 13 July 2020; Revised 9 October 2020; Accepted 10 December 2020; Published 21 December 2020
Academic Editor: Christian Drouet
Copyright © 2020 Miroslav Prucha et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
We present a case of a 42-year-old woman with Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease. e disease was diagnosed at an
adult age with relatively typical clinical manifestations; the skeleton, joints, and soft tissues were affected by nontuberculous
mycobacteria: Mycobacterium lentiflavum, M. kansasii, and M. avium. A previously published loss-of-function and functionally
validated variant NM_000416.2:c.819_822delTAAT in IFNGR1 in a heterozygous state was detected using whole-exome se-
quencing. After interferon-c therapy was started at a dose of 200 µg/m
2
three times a week, there was significant clinical im-
provement, with the need to continue the macrolide-based combination regimen. In the last 4 months, she has been in this therapy
without the need for antibiotic treatment.
1. Introduction
Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases
(MSMD) belongs to the group of primary immunodefi-
ciencies, i.e., a: defects in intrinsic and innate immunity. b:
MSMD and viral infection: VI-IUIS update [1]. It is a
primary immunodeficiency denoted by molecular defects
in the interleukin 12 (IL-12)/interferon c- (IFN-c-) de-
pendent signalling pathway. e genetic aetiology of the
disease was first demonstrated in 1996 [2], and we currently
know of variants in 15 genes that, due to allelic hetero-
geneity, are the cause of 21 forms of the disease [3, 4].
Patients with this primary immunodeficiency are charac-
terized by a narrow vulnerability to poorly virulent
mycobacteria, such as bacillus Calmette–Gu´ erin (BCG)
vaccines and environmental mycobacteria (EM) [5, 6].
IFN-c is a key player in driving anti-infectious immunity. It
is capable of enhancing antigen processing, inducing an
antiviral state, and boosting antimicrobial functions. Severe
recurrent infections, either disseminated or localized, are
typical here [7].
2. Case Report
A 42-year-old female with a suspicion of “immunodefi-
ciency” came to the immunology clinic. e reason at the
time was a present active infection by atypical mycobacteria
that affected the skeleton with multiple defects of the spine
( and L vertebrae), skin, and subcutis of the face, lymph
nodes, knee joints, calva, paranasal sinuses, and nose.
Hindawi
Case Reports in Immunology
Volume 2020, Article ID 8836685, 5 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8836685