M. I. Oniha

Evaluation of crayfish chaff charcoal agar as a transport medium for anaerobes

O previous studies have shown that deletion of tRNA modification enzyme glucose-inhibited division gene (gidA) significantly attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (STM) virulence. Transcriptome and proteome analyses indicated that expression of several virulence factors was significantly altered. Most importantly, gidA mutant mice immunized with the gidA mutant were protected against a lethal dose of wild-type (WT) STM. Further studies on the mechanistic basis of this protection indicated both humoral and cellular immunity played a role with the humoral immune response potentially being the main mechanism of protection. GidA together with MnmE thought to catalyze modification of tRNA is required for correct translation during gene expression. Examination of relative contribution of GidA and MnmE in modulation of Salmonella virulence indicated various degree of attenuation and that GidA and MnmE bind together and alters Salmonella tRNA modification. The GidB is a methyltransferase enzyme that is involved in the methylation of the 16S rRNA in bacteria. Deletion of gidB gene indicated a compromised overall bacterial fitness, significantly reduced motility and showed a filamentous morphology under the stress of nalidixic acid. Most importantly, deletion of gidB conferred high-level resistance to the aminoglycoside antibiotics streptomycin and neomycin. This study determined the methylation site for the WT STM to be at G527 of the 16S rRNA. A lack of methylation in the mutant confirmed that GidB is required for this methylation. Taken these data indicated that both GidA and GidB enzymes play a significant role in modulation of biological and virulence characteristics and alteration of antibiotic susceptibility in Salmonella under stress conditions. Amin Fadl, J Microb Biochem Technol 2013, 5:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/1948-5948.S1.009I endocarditis (IE) is a life-threatening disease. Zoonotic bacteria can cause blood culture–negative endocarditis (BCNE). Zoonotic IE is prevalent in North Africa. The study aimed to diagnose IE caused by the zoonotic pathogens Brucella spp., Bartonella spp. and Coxiella burnetii in BCNE by PCR and serology. The study prospectively followed up all patients with suspected IE referred to the Endocarditis Service, Cardiology Department, Cairo University from February 2005 to February 2013. Three sets of blood culture were withdrawn on admission. Resected surgical material was cultured whenever available. Serologic testing was performed for detection of Brucella antibodies using standard agglutination test, IgG titers for Bartonella, and IgG, IgM, and IgA antibody titers for Coxiella burnetii using IFA on the sera of all referred patients. A patient was considered to have endocarditis caused by Brucella when antibody titers exceeded 1/320, Bartonella when IgG titers >1:800, and Coxiella when IgG phase I titer >1:800. Broad range bacterial 16S rRNA from blood culture bottles and surgical materials followed by sequencing for identification of positive cases was done. IE was classified as definite in 300 patients; 50% of them had BCNE. Zoonotic endocarditis was diagnosed as by serology and PCR in 15 (5%) patients including 6cases of Brucella spp., 5 cases of Bartonella spp. and 4cases of Coxiella burnetii. Zoonotic agents were a cause of 9.3% of BCNE. Zoonotic agents are important cause of IE in Egypt.Mycobacterium tuberculosis, acid fast bacilli stained by Ziehl-Neelsen’s technique is a gram-positive bacteria. Infection caused by this organism is an important clinical diagnosis for consideration especially in extra pulmonary location. Despite slow replication rate (15-20 hours), the pathogen survived in many unfavorable conditions due to its unusual acidic wall content; the hallmark for its resistance and virulence. Infection by this organism is often related to the presence of hyper virulence mutant strain. Deletion of modifying enzymes or regulators that respond to environmental stimuli is responsible for these mutants to induce a protective granuloma enabling long-term persistent infection. M.tuberculosis survives and grow in an oxygenated environment to oxidized glucose substrate in order to obtain energy during the process of cellular respiration. Radiopharmaceutical agent 2-deoxy-2( 18 F) fluoro-D-glucose ( 18 F-FDG) is a chemical widely used for in-vivo oncology imaging. This glucose analogue is a positron emitter. When injected into the body, 18 F-FDG is taken into living tissues similar to glucose metabolic pathway. The intensity of uptake depends on the rate of tissue metabolism. This process can be mapped and quantified using a Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography system, an integrated imaging modality. This study highlights the features of multisystemic m.tuberculosis infection translated through the rate of tissue metabolism using 18 F-FDG tracer. The presence of m.tuberculosis infection or granulomatous lesion is qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed against microbial isolation and tissue biopsy yield. In view of increasing world wide incidence of m.tuberculosis infection and multidrug resistance (MDR) strain, the encouraging result of this study offer a non-conventional solution in clinical detection of tuberculosis infection granting further studies in translational clinical microbiology using molecular imaging technique.A laboratory formulated crayfish chaff charcoal agar (CCCA) was evaluated both as transport and storage medium for anaerobic bacteria in parallel with Amies charcoal agar (ACA), cooked meat medium (CMM) and thioglycollate broth (TCB). The survival of anaerobes in swab obtained clinical specimens and viability of specific anaerobes in these media were assessed. Eight genera of anaerobes (Bacteroides, Fusobacterium, Parvobacteroides, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Clostridium, Peptoniphilus, Peptostreptococcus) were isolated from ACA, CMM and CCCA, 7 (Bacteroides, Fusobacterium, Parvobacteroides, Prevotella, Clostridium, Peptoniphilus, Peptostreptococcus) from TCB transported specimens. Comparatively, the difference in isolation rate of anaerobes in aspirate (85%) and swab (75%) processed specimens was not significant (p < 0.05). Irrespective of storage temperature (-20°C or 30 + 2°C), positive anaerobic cultures from 7-day stored swab specimens in transport media were TCB 10, CCCA 14, ACA and CMM 18 each. Anaerobes recovery from CCCA and ACA were comparable (p < 0.05). Quantitatively, Bacteroides was recovered after 6 weeks of storage in CCCA with counts of 10 6.1 and 10 5.6 CFU/ml at -20°C and 30 + 2°C respectively. Similar pattern of recovery occurred with Prevotella, Clostridium and Peptoniphilus in CCCA, ACA and other transport media with no significant differences in viable counts (p < 0.05). The CCCA function is comparable with those of the other media and can be prepared and used in-house for transport of clinical specimens and short term storage of anaerobes.Background Respiratory tract infection is leading causes of death among HIV infected patients in Vietnam. Identification the agents caused RTIs is very important to give specific treatments leads to reduce mortality rate among HIV/AIDS patients suffering from RTIs. Methods We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study of 170 HIV/AIDS patients with clinical manifestations of respiratory tract and/or broncho aveolar lesions through chest X-ray films to indentify the common agents by analyzing bronchoaveolarlavage (BAL). Results A total of 170 HIV/AIDS patients (138 male and 32 female) were involved in the study and 170 BAL samples had been taken for AFB, cultures and PCR. 148/170 (87.1%) patients had been diagnosed RTIs with following agents: Mycobacterium tuberculosis 79/148 (53.4%), PJP 12/148 (8.1%), bacteria 59/148 (39.9%), fungi 54/148 (36.5%) and CMV 2/148 (1.4%). 52/148 (35.1%) patients had been isolated 2 differential agents at a moment: the common concurrent infections are MTB-Fungi (16 patients), MTB-Bacteria (14 patients) and Bacteria-Fungi (11patients). . Most patients have very low CD4+ count (80.4% ≤ 100cells/mm3; mean = 74.6; SD = 118.7; median = 22). The most common bacteria are: Pseudomonas (P.aeruginosa, P.putida, P.pneumotropica) 15/59 (25.4%), Streptococcus (S.pneumoniae, S.pyogene) 11/59 (18.6%), Acinobacter (Aci.baumani, Aci.juni, Aci.minimus) 6/59 (10.2%), E.coli 3/59 (5.1%) and S.aureus 3/59 (5.1%). Other included: H.influenza 2/59 and each following spp have 1: Achromobacter xylosoxidans, K.pneumoniae, Enterobacter clocae, Moraxella catarhalis, and Rhodococcus equi. Isolated fungal spp include: Candida albicans 32/54 (59.2%), Penicillium marneffei 14/54 (25.9%), Aspergilus spp 4 (7.4%), Candida spp 3/54 (5.6%) and Cryptococcus neoformans 1/54 (1.9%). Conclusion Mycobacterium tuberculosis, bacteria (P.aeruginosa, P.putida, P.pneumotropica, S.pneumoniae, S.pyogene, and Aci.baumani) and fungi (Candida albicans and Penicillium marneffei) are the common agents caused RTIs in HIV/AIDS patients. Because of advanced immune depression, patients may have concurrent infections in a moment.B rapidly respond and adapt to changing environmental conditions by altering gene expression. A gram-negative opportunistic bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major human pathogen implicated in a number of acute and chronic infections. Of particular concern is the wide prevalence of antibiotic resistant P. aeruginosa in hospitals. Expression of virulence factors that contribute to P. aeruginosa pathogenicity is tightly regulated. Regulators make up ~8-10% of the P. aeruginosa genome. A transcriptional regulator of the LysR family, AmpR plays a major role in conferring resistance to s-lactams by positively regulating ampC encoding a lactamase. Whole genome approaches such as microarrays, deep RNA sequencing, CHIP-Seq and proteomics analyses of the P. aeruginosa prototypic strain PAO1 and its isogenic ampR in-frame deletion mutant, PAO∆ampR, in the absence and presence of s-lactams, revealed that the regulatory repertoire of AmpR is extensive and includes over 500 genes. AmpR regulates diverse phenotypes such as s-lactam and non-s-lactam resistance, many virulence processes and metabolism. AmpR regulated positively and negatively, phenotypes associated with acute and chronic infections, respectively. Furthermore, RNA-Seq and ChIP-Seq studies identified lasR, encoding the quorum-sensing regulator, to be a direct target of AmpR regulation. In silico comparative transcriptomics analyses further identified genes that are exclusively regulated by AmpR and core set are involved in bacterial homeostasis. In summary, AmpR is identified as a critical regulator of pathogenesis and metabolism in P. aeruginosa and is a potential therapeutic target. Kalai Mathee, J Microb Biochem Technol 2013, 5:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/1948-5948.S1.009

Data set on Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) and Microscopy for Diagnosing Plasmodium falciparum And Plasmodium vivax

The World Heal Organization (WHO) has identified malaria diagnosis as being pivotal to eradicating the disease by 2030 as stipulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The data presented here was obtained from outpatients of a hospital in the South Western Region of Nigeria from November 2016 to May 2017. The data contains malaria incidence amongst asymptomatic and symptomatic outpatients in the period under review. Malaria incidence was obtained using two diagnostic test kits, Bioline SD (HRP-2) and ACON (HRP-2/Aldolase) alongside Microscopy as gold standard. Specificity, Sensitivity and Kappa statistic of each test device is presented in the tables herewith. Data presented here could be used alongside other data sources to assess the state of malaria diagnostics.

Studies on Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Pimples

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Pimples (acne) are small skin lesions or inflammations of the skin. The most common factor causing acne is the hormonal changes that occur during adolescent and teenage years. Antibiotics are becoming less effective in the treatment of pimples due to increasing concerns of antibiotic resistance. This study was therefore carried out to characterize the isolates from the pimples of Covenant University Students and to determine their antibiotics sensitivity pattern. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 20 swab samples were obtained from male and female students with obvious signs of pimples in Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The samples obtained were cultured on Mannitol Salt Agar and incubated at 37°C. Pure isolates obtained were subjected to Gram staining and other biochemical tests for identification. The isolates were further subjected to antibiotics sensitivity tests using antibiotic dics. RESULTS Macroscopic examination indicated that the organisms were convex, smooth and shiny. Microscopic examination revealed that the isolates were positive after employing the Gram Staining technique and they appeared as grape-like clusters. Biochemical tests revealed that the isolates were Coagulase positive, Catalase positive, Urease positive, Citrate positive, Methyl-Red positive, Voges-Proskauer negative and negative upon starch hydrolysis. The sugar fermentation tests revealed that the isolates fermented Glucose, Maltose, Galactose, Sucrose and Lactose, respectively. The antibiotic susceptibility test showed that isolates were resistant to Cotrimazole, Cloxacillin, Erythromycin, Gentamycin, Augmentin, Streptomycin, Tetracycline and Chloramphenicol. CONCLUSION The results therefore indicated that the isolates were Staphylococcus aureus and other staphylococci species. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics should be avoided to prevent the development of resistant strains of the Staphylococci genera and other pathogenic organisms.

Lessons in hand washing: what we should know?

Most communicable diseases are transmitted by hand; from nosocomial to community acquired diseases. Consequently, hand washing is strictly advocated in hospital, eateries and public places where contact by hand is frequent.

Susceptibility of fabrics in office furniture to microbial attack: microbial burden and health implications

Hygiene is advocated as major in the control of infectious diseases; however an area of neglect is furniture we come in contact with daily. Furniture is made of diverse materials; wood, glass, metals, plastics, rubber, clothing fabrics or their combinations. Colonization of furniture made from different types of material and possible health implications are reported.