Journal of Pathogens最新文献

Seroprevalence of HCV indicates that HCV is found in more than 10% of HBV- or HDV-infected patients worldwide leading to liver disease. Here we show HBV and HDV coinfection association with HCV infected Pakistani patients, study of disease severity, and possible interpretation of associated risk factors in coinfected patients. A total of 730 liver diseased patients were included, out of which 501 were found positive for HCV infection via PCR. 5.1% of patients were coinfected with HBV while 1% were coinfected with HBV and HDV both. LFTs were significantly altered in dually and triply infected patients as compared to single HCV infection. Mean bilirubin, AST, and ALT levels were highest (3.25 mg/dL, 174 IU/L, and 348 IU/L) in patients with triple infection while dual infection LFTs (1.6 mg/dL, 61 IU/L, and 74 IU/L) were not high as in single infection (1.9 mg/dL, 76 IU/L, and 91 IU/L). The most prominent risk factor in case of single (22%) and dual infection (27%) group was "reuse of syringes" while in triple infection it was "intravenous drug users" (60%). It is concluded that HBV and HDV coinfections are strongly associated with HCV infected Pakistani patients and in case of severe liver disease the possibility of double and triple coinfection should be kept in consideration.

We report and investigated a case of inadvertent contamination of 125 mice (housed in two germ-free positive-pressurized isolators) with emerging human and coral pathogen Aspergillus sydowii. The infected mice correspond to genetic line SAMP1/YitFc, which have 100% immune predisposition to develop Crohn's disease-like spontaneous pathologies, namely, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Pathogen update based on a scoping review of the literature and our clinical observations and experimentation are discussed. The unwanted infection of germ-free mice (immunologically prone to suffer chronic inflammation) with human pathogen A. sydowii resulted in no overt signs of clinical disease over 3-week exposure period, or during DSS-induced colitis experiments. Results and observations suggest that A. sydowii alone has limited clinical effect in immunocompromised germ-free mice or that other commensal microbial flora is required for Aspergillus-associated disease to occur.

In a high tuberculosis burdened country like India, rapid, cost-effective, and reliable diagnostic tools for tuberculosis are an urgent need of the hour to prevent inappropriate treatment strategies and further spread of resistance. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of new smear-positive tuberculosis cases with primary resistance to rifampicin and/or isoniazid as well as identify the common mutations associated with it. Sputum of 200 newly diagnosed smear-positive cases of 1+ score and above was directly subjected to Line Probe Assay using the GenoType MTBDRplus assay kit. All samples were inoculated onto solid media and 61 samples were inoculated in automated liquid culture also. The Line Probe Assay gave hundred percent interpretable results with 2.5% of the study population showing resistant pattern. Only 1% of the cases were primary multidrug resistant tuberculosis and 1.5% showed isoniazid monoresistance. S531L and C15T were the most common genetic mutations seen for rifampicin and isoniazid resistance, respectively. 40% had absent rpoB wild type 8 band indicating probable silent mutation after clinical correlation. The average turnaround time for Line Probe Assay was far less (3.8 days) as compared to solid and liquid cultures (35.6 days and 13.5 days, resp.).

This is the first confirmed report of Encephalitozoon cuniculi (E. cuniculi) in farm meat rabbits located in Northern Mexico. Eighty young rabbits exhibited clinical signs of this zoonotic emerging disease, like torticollis, ataxia, paresis, circling, and rolling. Samples of brain, kidney, and liver were examined for histology lesions. For the first time the lesions caused by E. cuniculi were graded according to their severity (I, II, and III) and the size of the granulomas (Types A, B, and C). The main cerebral injuries were Grade III, coinciding with the presence of Type C granulomas. The cerebral lesions were located in the cortex, brain stem, and medulla. The renal lesions were also Grade III distributed throughout cortex and renal medulla, with no granuloma formation. The involvement of hypersensitivity Types III and IV is suggested. All of the rabbits were seropositive to E. cuniculi by CIA testing, suggesting that this zoonotic and emerging pathogen is widely distributed among animals intended for human consumption. We believe this work could be used as a guide when examining E. cuniculi and will provide direction to confirm the diagnosis of this pathogen.

Candida is a common opportunistic pathogen during the course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression. Changes in the clinical severity of candidiasis and the Candida species prevalence profile may be a reflection of immunological changes in HIV positive patients. The aim of this study was to document the changing pattern of Candida species prevalence profile in HIV seropositive patients from a tertiary care hospital in North India. One hundred and twenty HIV seropositive subjects were recruited for Candida microbial screening. Clinical specimens including blood, oral swabs, expectorated or induced sputum/bronchoalveolar lavage specimens, and urine were collected depending on the patient's symptoms. A total of 128 Candida isolates were obtained from 88 cases and 7 different Candida species were identified. C. albicans (50%) was the most common species isolated followed by C. glabrata (17%) and C. dubliniensis (12.5%). Other species isolated were C. parapsilosis (7.8%), C. krusei, C. tropicalis (4.6% each), and C. kefyr (3%). Strong clinical suspicion along with optimal sampling of an accurate diagnosis of Candida species involved would go a long way in decreasing the morbidity associated with non-albicans Candida species.

In Kenya, leaves and roots from Croton macrostachyus are used as a traditional medicine for infectious diseases such as typhoid and measles, but reports on possible antimicrobial activity of stem bark do not exist. In this study, the antibacterial and antifungal effects of methanol, ethyl acetate and butanol extracts, and purified lupeol of C. macrostachyus stem bark were determined against important human gram-negative pathogens Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter aerogenes, gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes, and a fungus Candida albicans. The most promising broad scale antimicrobial activity against all the studied pathogens was shown by the ethyl acetate extract. The ethyl acetate extract induced the zone of inhibition between 10.1 ± 0.6 mm and 16.0 ± 1.2 mm against S. typhi, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, E. aerogenes, and L. monocytogenes with weaker antimicrobial activity against C. albicans (zone of inhibition: 5.6 ± 1.0 mm). The antibiotic controls (amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, benzylpenicillin, clotrimazole, and cefotaxime) showed antimicrobial activity with zones of inhibition within 13.4 ± 0.7-22.1 ± 0.9 mm. The ethyl acetate extract had MIC in the range of 125-250 mg/mL against all the studied bacteria and against C. albicans MIC was 500 mg/mL. The present results give scientific evidence and support the traditional use of C. macrostachyus stem bark as a source for antimicrobials. We show that C. macrostachyus stem bark lupeol is a promising antimicrobial agent against several important human pathogens.

In September 2010, a cholera outbreak was reported from Odisha, Eastern India. V. cholerae isolated from the clinical samples were biochemically and serologically confirmed as serogroup O1, biotype El Tor, and serotype Ogawa. Multiplex PCR screening revealed the presence of various genes, namely, ompW, ctxB, zot, rfbO1, tcp, ace, hlyA, ompU, rtx, and toxR, in all of the isolates. The isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole, nalidixic acid, polymyxin B, spectinomycin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, trimethoprim, and vibriostatic agent 2,4-diamino-6,7-diisopropylpteridine (O/129). Minimum inhibitory concentration of tetracycline decreased in the presence of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), suggesting the involvement of efflux pumps. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of class I integrons as well as SXT elements harbouring antibiotic resistance genes in all isolates. Sequencing revealed the presence of ctxB gene of classical biotype in all the isolates. The isolates harboured an RS1-CTX prophage array with El Tor type rstR and classical ctxB on the large chromosome. The study indicated that the V. cholerae El Tor variants are evolving in the area with better antibiotic resistance and virulence potential.