Search results for "Laboratory medicine"
showing 10 items of 211 documents
Crowdsourced analysis of fungal growth and branching on microfluidic platforms
2021
Fungal hyphal growth and branching are essential traits that allow fungi to spread and proliferate in many environments. This sustained growth is essential for a myriad of applications in health, agriculture, and industry. However, comparisons between different fungi are difficult in the absence of standardized metrics. Here, we used a microfluidic device featuring four different maze patterns to compare the growth velocity and branching frequency of fourteen filamentous fungi. These measurements result from the collective work of several labs in the form of a competition named the “Fungus Olympics.” The competing fungi included five ascomycete species (ten strains total), two basidiomycete…
Tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from migratory birds in southern Norway
2020
Birds are important hosts for the first life stages of the Ixodes ricinus tick and they can transport their parasites over long distances. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Neoehrlichia mikurensis and Rickettsia helvetica in ticks collected from migratory birds in Norway. A total of 815 Ixodes ricinus ticks from 216 birds trapped at Lista Bird Observatory in southern Norway during spring and autumn migration in 2008 were analysed by real-time PCR. B. burgdorferi s. l. was the most prevalent pathogen, detected in 6.1% of the ticks. The prevalence of N. mikurensis, A. phagocytophilum and R. helvetica was 1.2%…
Culture and Real-time Polymerase Chain reaction sensitivity in the diagnosis of invasive meningococcal disease: Does culture miss less severe cases?
2019
BackgroundInvasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a highly lethal disease. Diagnosis is commonly performed by culture or Realtime-PCR (qPCR).AimsOur aim was to evaluate, retrospectively, whether culture positivity correlates with higher bacterial load and fatal outcome. Our secondary aim was to compare culture and qPCR sensitivity.MethodsThe National Register for Molecular Surveillance was used as data source. Cycle threshold (CT), known to be inversely correlated with bacterial load, was used to compare bacterial load in different samples.ResultsThree-hundred-thirteen patients were found positive for Neisseria meningitidis by qPCR, or culture, or both; 41 died (case fatality rate 13.1%); 1…
Stimulated and unstimulated saliva samples have significantly different bacterial profiles
2018
Epidemiological studies use saliva on a regular basis as a non-invasive and easy-to-take sample, which is assumed to be a microbial representative of the oral cavity ecosystem. However, comparative studies between different kinds of saliva samples normally used in microbial studies are scarce. The aim of the current study was to compare oral microbiota composition between two different saliva samples collected simultaneously: non-stimulated saliva with paper points and stimulated saliva collected after chewing paraffin gum. DNA was extracted from saliva samples of ten individuals, then analyzed by 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to describe bacterial diversity. The results demonstrate significant d…
Re: The Clinical Impact of Bacteremia on Outcomes in Elderly Patients with Pyelonephritis or Urinary Sepsis: A Prospective Multicenter Study
2018
Background Bacteremia is common in severe urinary infections, but its influence on the outcomes is not well established. The aim of this study was to assess the association of bacteremia with outcomes in elderly patients admitted to hospital with pyelonephritis or urinary sepsis. Methods This prospective muticenter observational study was conducted at 5 Spanish hospitals. All patients aged >65 years with pyelonephritis or urinary sepsis admitted to the departments of internal medicine and with urine and blood cultures obtained at admission to hospital were eligible. Transfer to ICU, length of hospital stay, hospital mortality and all cause 30-day mortality in bacteremic and non-bacteremic g…
Performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus for detection of latent tuberculosis infection in pregnant women living in a tuberculosis- and HIV-endemic se…
2017
We evaluated the performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus), which includes two Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen formulations (TB1 and TB2), for detection of latent tuberculosis infection during pregnancy. Eight-hundred-twenty-nine Ethiopian pregnant women (5.9% HIV-positive) were tested with QFT-Plus, with bacteriological sputum analysis performed for women with clinically suspected tuberculosis and HIV-positive women irrespective of clinical presentation. QFT-Plus read-out was categorized according to the conventional cut-off (0.35 IU/ml) for both antigen formulations. In addition, we analysed the distribution of QFT-Plus results within a borderline zone (0.20–0.70 IU/ml), and i…
Importance of Propionibacterium acnes hemolytic activity in human intervertebral discs: A microbiological study
2018
Most patients with chronic lower back pain (CLBP) exhibit degenerative disc disease. Disc specimens obtained during initial therapeutic discectomies are often infected/colonized with Propionibacterium acnes, a Gram-positive commensal of the human skin. Although pain associated with infection is typically ascribed to the body's inflammatory response, the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus was recently observed to directly activate nociceptors by secreting pore-forming α-hemolysins that disrupt neuronal cell membranes. The hemolytic activity of P. acnes in cultured disc specimens obtained during routine therapeutic discectomies was assessed through incubation on sheep-blood agar. T…
The role of morbid obesity in the promotion of metabolic disruptions and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis by Helicobacter Pylori
2016
Background Helicobacter pylory (HP) infection has been associated to an increased rate of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and liver disease through its effect on insulin resistance and systemic inflammation. However, results are inconstant and no studies exist in morbidly obese patients, in which both insulin resistance and inflammation coexist. Material and methods Cross-sectional study to evaluate the relationship between HP infection and alterations in carbohydrate metabolism, lipid profile, inflammation markers, and liver disease in patients awaiting for bariatric surgery. HP infection was histologically assessed in gastric antrum biopsy from 416 subjects. Liver biopsy was also available in 93 su…
High level of intrinsic phenotypic antimicrobial resistance in enterobacteria from terrestrial wildlife in Gabonese national parks.
2021
Data on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in African wildlife are still relatively limited. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of phenotypic intrinsic and acquired antimicrobial resistance of enterobacteria from several species of terrestrial wild mammals in national parks of Gabon. Colony culture and isolation were done using MacConkey agar. Isolates were identified using the VITEK 2 and MALDI-TOF methods. Antibiotic susceptibility was analysed and interpreted according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing guidelines. The preliminary test for ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae was performed by replicating enterobacte…
The Relationship between Gray Matter Quantitative MRI and Disability in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
2016
Purpose: In secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS), global neurodegeneration as a driver of disability gains importance in comparison to focal inflammatory processes. However, clinical MRI does not visualize changes of tissue composition outside MS lesions. This quantitative MRI (qMRI) study investigated cortical and deep gray matter (GM) proton density (PD) values and T1 relaxation times to explore their potential to assess neuronal damage and its relationship to clinical disability in SPMS. Materials and Methods: 11 SPMS patients underwent quantitative T1 and PD mapping. Parameter values across the cerebral cortex and deep GM structures were compared with 11 healthy controls, and…