Search results for "IPT"
showing 10 items of 6114 documents
(1,3)-β-d-Glucan-based antifungal treatment in critically ill adults at high risk of candidaemia: an observational study.
2016
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of a strategy that uses serum (1,3)-β-d-glucan (BDG) results for antifungal treatment of ICU patients at high risk of invasive candidiasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Adult patients admitted to the ICU from January 2012 to June 2014 were included if they exhibited sepsis at the time of BDG testing and they met Candida score components ≥3. A retrospective analysis of collected data was performed. RESULTS In total, 198 patients were studied. Of 63 BDG-positive patients, 47 with candidaemia and 16 with probable Candida infection, all [31.8% (63/198)] received antifungal therapy. Of 135 BDG-negative patients, 110 [55.5% (110/198)] did not receive antifungal therapy…
Symbiont Acquisition and Replacement as a Source of Ecological Innovation
2017
Nutritional symbionts play a major role in the ecology and evolution of insects. The recent accumulation of knowledge on the identity, function, genomics, and phylogenetic relationships of insect-bacteria symbioses provides the opportunity to assess the effects of symbiont acquisitions and replacements on the shift into novel ecological niches and subsequent lineage diversification. The megadiverse insect order Hemiptera presents a particularly large diversity of symbiotic associations that has frequently undergone shifts in symbiont localization and identity, which have contributed to the exploitation of nutritionally imbalanced diets such as plant saps or vertebrate blood. Here we review …
Italian young doctors’ knowledge, attitudes and practices on antibiotic use and resistance: A national cross-sectional survey
2020
Abstract Objectives Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major health issues worldwide. Clinicians should play a central role to fight AMR, and medical training is a pivotal issue to combat it; therefore, assessing levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices among young doctors is essential for future antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes. Methods A nationwide, cross-sectional, multicentre survey was conducted in Italy. A descriptive analysis of knowledge and attitudes was performed, along with a univariate and multivariate analysis of their determinants. Results Overall, 1179 young doctors accessed the survey and 1055 (89.5%) completed all sections. Regarding the knowledge se…
Sex-dependent metabolism of nevirapine in rats: impact on plasma levels, pharmacokinetics and interaction with nortriptyline.
2017
Abstract Nevirapine (NVP) is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) widely used in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and is the first-choice NNRTI during pregnancy. NVP shows a sex dimorphic profile in humans with sex differences in bioavailability, biotransformation and toxicity. In this study, sex differences in NVP metabolism and inhibition of NVP metabolism by the antidepressant nortriptyline (NT) were evaluated using rats as experimental animals. NVP was administered orally to male and female rats and sex differences in plasma levels and pharmacokinetic parameters were analysed. NVP plasma levels were higher in female compared with male rats…
The purine analogues abacavir and didanosine increase acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity by enhancing mitochondrial dysfunction
2016
Background NRTIs are essential components of HIV therapy with well-documented, long-term mitochondrial toxicity in hepatic cells, but whose acute effects on mitochondria are unclear. As acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity also involves mitochondrial interference, we hypothesized that it would be exacerbated in the context of ART. Methods We evaluated the acute effects of clinically relevant concentrations of the most widely used NRTIs, alone or combined with acetaminophen, on mitochondrial function and cellular viability. Results The purine analogues abacavir and didanosine produced an immediate and concentration-dependent inhibition of oxygen consumption and complex I and III activity. Th…
Recombinant GII.P16 genotype challenges RT-PCR-based typing in region A of norovirus genome
2021
Abstract Objectives In latest years GII.4[P16] and GII.2[P16] noroviruses have become predominant in some temporal/geographical settings. In parallel with the emergence of the GII.P16 polymerase type, norovirus surveillance activity in Italy experienced increasing difficulties in generating sequence data on the RNA polymerase genomic region A, using the widely adopted JV12A/JV13B primer set. Two sets of modified primers (Deg1 and Deg2) were tested in order to improve amplification and typing of the polymerase gene. Methods Amplification and typing performance of region A primers was assessed in RT-PCR on 452 GII norovirus positive samples obtained from 2194 stool samples collected in 2016–2…
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 …
Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) VI: learning from type strains
2019
Type strains of species are one of the most valuable resources in microbiology. During the last decade, the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) projects at the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and their collaborators have worked towards sequencing the genome of all the type strains of prokaryotic species. A new project GEBA VI extends these efforts to functional genomics, including pangenome and transcriptome sequencing and exometabolite analyses. As part of this project, investigators with interests in specific groups of prokaryotes are invited to submit samples for analysis at JGI.
The LuxR Regulators PcoR and RfiA Co-regulate Antimicrobial Peptide and Alginate Production in Pseudomonas corrugata
2018
Cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) are considered as some of the most important secondary metabolites in different plant-associated bacteria, thanks to their antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and surfactant properties. In this study, our aim was to investigate the role of the Quorum Sensing (QS) system, PcoI/PcoR, and the LuxR-type transcriptional regulator RfiA in CLP production in the phytopatogenic bacterium, Pseudomonas corrugata based on our previous work where we reported that the pcoR and rfiA mutants were devoid of the CLPs cormycin and corpeptin production. Due to the close genetic link between the QS system and the RfiA (rfiA is co-transcribed with pcoI), it was difficult to ascertain the specifi…
Viability RT-qPCR to Distinguish Between HEV and HAV With Intact and Altered Capsids
2018
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging pathogen showing a considerable increase in the number of reported cases in Europe mainly related to the ingestion of contaminated food. As with other relevant viral foodborne pathogens, real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the gold standard for HEV detection in clinical, food, and environmental samples, but these procedures cannot discriminate between inactivated and potentially infectious viruses. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a viability PCR method to discriminate between native, heat-, and high-pressure processing (HPP)-treated HEV using the hepatitis A virus (HAV) as a cultivable surrogate. To thi…