Search results for "DISEASES"
showing 10 items of 20537 documents
Can MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Reasonably Type Bacteria?
2017
International audience; Bacterial typing is crucial to tackle the spread of bacterial pathogens but current methods are time-consuming and costly. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been recently integrated into the microbiology laboratory workflow for a quick and low-cost microbial species identification. Independent research groups have successfully redirected the original function of this technology from their primary purpose to discriminate subgroups within pathogen species. However, identical bacterial subgroups could be identified by unrelated peaks by independent methods, thus limiting their robustness and exportability. We…
High vancomycin MICs within the susceptible range in Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia isolates are associated with increased cell wall thickness and…
2016
Vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) at the upper end of the susceptible range for Staphylococcus aureus have been associated with poor clinical outcomes of bloodstream infections. We tested the hypothesis that high vancomycin MICs in S. aureus bacteraemia isolates are associated with increased cell wall thickness and suboptimal bacterial internalisation or lysis by human phagocytes. In total, 95 isolates were evaluated. Original vancomycin MICs were determined by Etest. The susceptibility of S. aureus isolates to killing by phagocytes was assessed in a human whole blood assay. Internalisation of bacterial cells by phagocytes was investigated by flow cytometry. Cell wall thic…
A New Water-Soluble Bactericidal Agent for the Treatment of Infections Caused by Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacterial Strains
2020
Grapefruit and lemon pectin obtained from the respective waste citrus peels via hydrodynamic cavitation in water only are powerful, broad-scope antimicrobials against Gram-negative and -positive bacteria. Dubbed IntegroPectin, these pectic polymers functionalized with citrus flavonoids and terpenes show superior antimicrobial activity when compared to commercial citrus pectin. Similar to commercial pectin, lemon IntegroPectin determined ca. 3-log reduction in Staphylococcus aureus cells, while an enhanced activity of commercial citrus pectin was detected in the case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells with a minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 15 mg mL&minus
Enhanced emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria after in vitro induction with cancer chemotherapy drugs.
2019
International audience; BACKGROUND:Infections with antibiotic-resistant pathogens in cancer patients are a leading cause of mortality. Cancer patients are treated with compounds that can damage bacterial DNA, potentially triggering the SOS response, which in turn enhances the bacterial mutation rate. Antibiotic resistance readily occurs after mutation of bacterial core genes. Thus, we tested whether cancer chemotherapy drugs enhance the emergence of resistant mutants in commensal bacteria.METHODS:Induction of the SOS response was tested after the incubation of Escherichia coli biosensors with 39 chemotherapeutic drugs at therapeutic concentrations. The mutation frequency was assessed after …
New Synthetic Nitro-Pyrrolomycins as Promising Antibacterial and Anticancer Agents
2020
: Pyrrolomycins (PMs) are polyhalogenated antibiotics known as powerful biologically active compounds, yet featuring high cytotoxicity. The present study reports the antibacterial and antitumoral properties of new chemically synthesized PMs, where the three positions of the pyrrolic nucleus were replaced by nitro groups, aiming to reduce their cytotoxicity while maintaining or even enhancing the biological activity. Indeed, the presence of the nitro substituent in diverse positions of the pyrrole determined an improvement of the minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) against Gram-positive (i.e., Staphylococcus aureus) or -negative (i.e., Pseudomonas aeruginosa) pathogen strains as compare…
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…
Immunodominant Cytomegalovirus Epitopes Suppress Subdominant Epitopes in the Generation of High-Avidity CD8 T Cells
2021
CD8+ T-cell responses to pathogens are directed against infected cells that present pathogen-encoded peptides on MHC class-I molecules. Although natural responses are polyclonal, the spectrum of peptides that qualify for epitopes is remarkably small even for pathogens with high coding capacity. Among those few that are successful at all, a hierarchy exists in the magnitude of the response that they elicit in terms of numbers of CD8+ T cells generated. This led to a classification into immunodominant and non-immunodominant or subordinate epitopes, IDEs and non-IDEs, respectively. IDEs are favored in the design of vaccines and are chosen for CD8+ T-cell immunotherapy. Using murine cytomegalov…
Performance of disc diffusion, MIC gradient tests and Vitek 2 for ceftolozane/tazobactam and ceftazidime/avibactam susceptibility testing of Pseudomo…
2021
AbstractObjectivesTo assess performance of disc diffusion, gradient tests and Vitek 2 system to determine the susceptibility of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains to ceftolozane/tazobactam (C/T) and ceftazidime/avibactam (CZA).MethodsTwo-hundred non-duplicate P. aeruginosa strains isolated by 47 French medical laboratories were selected to cover a wide range of C/T and CZA MICs. Performance of C/T disc (30/10 μg, Bio-Rad), CZA discs (10/4 μg) (Thermo Fisher and Bio-Rad), C/T and CZA gradient tests (Etest, BioMérieux; MIC Test Strip, Liofilchem), and AST-XN12 card of Vitek 2 system (BioMérieux) were compared with a broth microdilution (BMD) method (Thermo Fisher). MIC and disc results w…
The Use and Abuse of LexA by Mobile Genetic Elements
2016
The SOS response is an essential process for responding to DNA damage in bacteria. The expression of SOS genes is under the control of LexA, a global transcription factor that undergoes self-cleavage during stress to allow the expression of DNA repair functions and delay cell division until the damage is rectified. LexA also regulates genes that are not part of this cell rescue program, and the induction of bacteriophages, the movement of pathogenicity islands, and the expression of virulence factors and bacteriocins are all controlled by this important transcription factor. Recently it has emerged that when regulating the expression of genes from mobile genetic elements (MGEs), LexA often …
Analysis of DNA Polymerases Reveals Specific Genes Expansion in Leishmania and Trypanosoma spp.
2020
Leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are largely neglected diseases prevailing in tropical and subtropical conditions. These are an arthropod-borne zoonosis that affects humans and some animals and is caused by infection with protozoan of the genera Leishmania and Trypanosoma, respectively. These parasites present high genomic plasticity and are able to adapt themselves to adverse conditions like the attack of host cells or toxicity induced by drug exposure. Different mechanisms allow these adapting responses induced by stress, such as mutation, chromosomal rearrangements, establishment of mosaic ploidies, and gene expansion. Here we describe how a subset of genes encoding for DNA polymerases …