Search results for "70"
showing 10 items of 9933 documents
Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Stray Dogs from Southern Italy
2020
Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial pathogen transmitted by Ixodes ticks and is responsible for Lyme disease in both humans and dogs. The aim of this work was to evaluate B. burgdorferi diffusion among stray dogs in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) by serological methods in order to study the risk factors associated with the infection. Serum and blood samples of 316 dogs were collected from a shelter in Palermo, and were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and of the ospA gene by real-time PCR, respectively. Seventeen sera (5.4%) were positive for the antibodies via IFA and one blood (0.3%) for ospA via real time PCR. On the basi…
Molecular Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Genes of Bacterial Pathogens from Bovine and Caprine Mastitis in Northern Lebanon
2021
Mastitis is an infectious disease encountered in dairy animals worldwide that is currently a growing concern in Lebanon. This study aimed at investigating the etiology of the main mastitis-causing pathogens in Northern Lebanon, determining their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, and identifying their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. A total of 101 quarter milk samples were collected from 77 cows and 11 goats presenting symptoms of mastitis on 45 dairy farms. Bacterial identification was carried out through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods. Molecula…
Serological and Molecular Evidence of Bartonella henselae in Stray Cats from Southern Italy
2021
Bartonella henselae is a slow growing and facultative intracellular pathogen mainly transmitted by arthropod vectors adapted to domestic and wild mammalian reservoir hosts. Since cats are the major source of the B. henselae infection, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence and the DNA presence in randomly sampled stray cats. Blood samples of 429 cats were collected from shelter of Palermo (Southern Italy) and sera and whole blood were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. henselae by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Two hundred and three sera (47.3%) were positive to IFA and 148 blood samples (34.5%…
H89 Treatment Reduces Intestinal Inflammation and Candida albicans Overgrowth in Mice
2020
Deregulation of the dynamic crosstalk between the gut microbiota, intestinal epithelial cells, and immune cells is critically involved in the development of inflammatory bowel disease and the overgrowth of opportunistic pathogens, including the human opportunistic fungus Candida albicans. In the present study, we assessed the effect of N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide (H89), a protein kinase A inhibitor, on the migration of macrophages to C. albicans through dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-challenged Caco-2 cells. We also investigated the impact of H89 on intestinal inflammation and C. albicans clearance from the gut, and determined the diversity of the gut microbio…
Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Markers in Patients with Autoimmune Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases in Italy
2020
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may be reactivated by immunosuppressive drugs in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases. This study evaluates HBV serum markers&rsquo
Epidemiological Surveillance of Norovirus and Rotavirus in Sewage (2016–2017) in Valencia (Spain)
2020
© 2020 by the authors.
Invasive Species as Hosts of Zoonotic Infections: The Case of American Mink (Neovison vison) and Leishmania infantum
2021
Leishmania infantum produces an endemic disease in the Mediterranean Basin that affects humans and domestic and wild mammals, which can act as reservoir or minor host. In this study, we analyzed the presence of the parasite in wild American minks, an invasive species in Spain. We screened for L. infantum DNA by PCR using five primer pairs: Two targeting kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), and the rest targeting the ITS1 region, the small subunit of ribosomal RNA (SSU) and a repetitive sequence (Repeat region). The detection limit was determined for each method using a strain of L. infantum and a bone marrow sample from an infected dog. PCR approaches employing the Repeat region and kDNA (RV1/RV2 primer…
Klebsiella pneumoniae Lipopolysaccharides Serotype O2afg Induce Poor Inflammatory Immune Responses Ex Vivo
2021
Currently, Klebsiella pneumoniae is a pathogen of clinical relevance due to its plastic ability of acquiring resistance genes to multiple antibiotics. During K. pneumoniae infections, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) play an ambiguous role as they both activate immune responses but can also play a role in immune evasion. The LPS O2a and LPS O2afg serotypes are prevalent in most multidrug resistant K. pneumoniae strains. Thus, we sought to understand if those two particular LPS serotypes were involved in a mechanism of immune evasion. We have extracted LPS (serotypes O1, O2a and O2afg) from K. pneumoniae strains and, using human monocytes ex vivo, we assessed the ability of those LPS antigens to in…
Gut Microbiome Associates With Lipid-Lowering Effect of Rosuvastatin in Vivo
2018
Source at https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00530 . Background: Statin has been widely used to treat hyperlipidemia because of its high potency in decreasing cholesterol levels. The present study aimed to examine the lipid-lowering effect of rosuvastatin and the composition, diversity and species abundance of gut microbiome in association with rosuvastatin efficacy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR-ORC-17013212 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, November 2, 2017. Results:Totally 64 patients with hyperlipidemia were treated with 10 mg/day of rosuvastatin for 4-8 weeks. Blood lipid indicators triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), lo…
Characterization of ESBL-producing enterobacteria from fruit bats in an unprotected area of Makokou, Gabon.
2020
In Gabon, terrestrial mammals of protected areas have been identified as a possible source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some studies on antibiotic resistance in bats have already been carried out. The main goal of our study was to detect extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) that are produced by enterobacteria from bats in the Makokou region in Gabon. Sixty-eight fecal samples were obtained from 68 bats caught in the forests located 1 km from the little town of Makokou. After culture and isolation, 66 Gram-negative bacterial colonies were obtained. The double-disk diffusion test confirmed the presence of ESBLs in six (20.69%) Escherichia coli isolates, four (13.79%) Klebsiella pneu…